Sua sponte
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sua sponte, Latin for "of one's own accord," is a legal term that means to act spontaneously without prompting from another party. The term is usually applied to actions by a judge, taken without a prior motion or request from the parties.
One situation when a party might encourage a judge to move sua sponte is when that party is preserving a special appearance (usually to challenge jurisdiction), and therefore cannot make motions on its own behalf without making a general appearance. Common reasons for an action taken sua sponte are when the judge determines that the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction or that the case should be moved to another judge because of a conflict of interest, even if all parties disagree.
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[edit] Notable cases
- Carlisle v. United States 517 U.S. 416 (1996) — The United States Supreme Court ruled that a District Court could not move sua sponte to grant a judgment of acquittal (notwithstanding the verdict) to remedy the late filing of the equivalent motion. [1]
- Trest v. Cain 94 F.3d 1005 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit moved sua sponte to reject a habeas corpus claim because of procedural defect, citing an obligation to do so. The Supreme Court ruled that this was not obligatory, but declined to rule whether it was permitted. [2]
[edit] Other uses
- The United States Army's special operations unit, the 75th Ranger Regiment, uses Sua Sponte as their regimental motto. The phrase is instilled upon new Rangers by their superiors through demanding that they accomplish all of their tasks with little to no prompting.
- The Fenn School in Concord, MA uses Sua Sponte as their school motto. This is usually seen written in a furled banner beneath an engraving of the famous Daniel Chester French Concord Minuteman statue.
