Susan Russ Walker
How Judge Walker rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Walker no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Walker
Susan Russ Walker served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Alabama from 1996 until her retirement in 2022, including service as chief magistrate judge. An Eckerd College graduate and Rhodes Scholar, she studied at Oxford University and earned her law degree from Yale. Before joining the bench, she clerked for Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., worked in the Alabama attorney general’s office, and practiced law privately.
How Judge Walker decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Myers v. Astrue, she reversed and remanded a disability benefits denial because the ALJ omitted required functional-area findings after identifying severe mental impairments.
“In this case, as in Moore, the ALJ has failed to analyze plaintiff's condition in two of the required functional areas. Eleventh Circuit law mandates reversal and remand on the basis of this legal error alone.”
In Rudolph v. Berryhill, she remanded because the ALJ did not determine whether a medical source was a treating physician before weighing that source’s opinion.
“the court cannot assume that the ALJ applied correct legal standards in the absence of a finding by the ALJ that Dr. Yalamanchili is or is not a treating medical source.”
Procedural preferences
In Magruder v. CSX Transportation, she granted the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal without prejudice after finding that the defendant had not shown legal prejudice.
“Defendant has not demonstrated that it would suffer any legal prejudice by reason of a dismissal without prejudice, nor has it demonstrated the necessity for the imposition of any conditions on the dismissal.”
In Pugh v. Astrue, she awarded attorney’s fees after finding the Commissioner’s litigation position was not substantially justified and the requested amount was reasonable.
“Upon an independent review of the record, the court concludes that the position of the Commissioner in this litigation was not substantially justified and, further, that the amount of fees sought by plaintiff's counsel is reasonable.”
Cautions
In White v. Hetzel, she recommended dismissing a successive habeas petition because the petitioner had not obtained the required permission from the Eleventh Circuit.
“Because this undertaking [is a successive] habeas corpus petition and because [Petitioner] had no permission from [the Eleventh Circuit] to file a [successive] habeas petition, ... the district court lack[s] jurisdiction to grant the requested relief.”
In Duckworth’s habeas case, the magistrate credited the state petition’s prison mailbox date and tolled the federal clock during state review, but recommended dismissal after finding the federal petition was filed one day late.
“the one-year period of limitation contained in 28 U.S.C. Section 2244(d)(1) expired on January 25, 2010. Duckworth filed the instant petition for federal habeas relief on January 26, 2010. Duckworth has failed to demonstrate that this federal habeas petition should not be dismissed as untimely filed.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Judgment is hereby entered in favor of the plaintiffs as to Count I of the complaint. ... Counts II, III & IV of the plaintiffs' complaint are hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. ... Plaintiffs' prayer for permanent injunctive relief is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as moot.”
“ORDERED that defendants' motion for Rule 11 sanctions (Doc. # 25) is DENIED without prejudice.”
“that Tinney's motion to dismiss (Doc. # 3) be DENIED as MOOT”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION of the Magistrate Judge that the Nissan Defendants' motion for sanctions (Doc. # 243), and defendants Bunker Plastic and John Parkinson's joinder in motion for sanctions (Doc. # 273) be DENIED.”
“The plaintiff's motion to dismiss be GRANTED. ... This case be DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“ORDERED that the motion to reconsider detention (doc. # 102) and renewed motion to set bail (Doc. # 104) be and hereby are GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that the plaintiff's motion to dismiss (Doc. # 11) is GRANTED. This action will be dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2) by separate judgment.”
A Recommendation that a removed case be remanded to state court because the defendant's removal was untimely under 28 U.S.C. Section 1446(b); this was the court's own jurisdictional determination following a show-cause order, not a ruling on a party-filed motion. Grounding quote: "Accordingly, it is the RECOMMENDATION of the Magistrate Judge that this action be REMANDED to the Circuit Court of Houston County, Alabama."
“the petition for habeas corpus relief be dismissed without prejudice to afford Walker an opportunity to exhaust all state court remedies available to her.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 19) be GRANTED and this case be DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for leave to amend is GRANTED to the extent that plaintiff may file an amended complaint, on or before August 25, 2008, which includes a more definite statement of his claims in this action.”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION of the Magistrate Judge that defendants’ motion to substitute the Commissioner of Social Security as the sole defendant (Doc. # 6) be GRANTED and that plaintiff’s claims against defendants Brown, Wilson, and the Social Security Administration be DISMISSED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Walker's own consent-jurisdiction caseload sampled here spans Social Security disability appeals, insurance and ERISA-adjacent employee-benefits disputes, a workers'-compensation removal dispute, consumer-credit/debt-collection suits, employment discrimination, and prisoner civil-rights and federal criminal matters: consistent with a full-tenure general-civil consent docket rather than a single specialty.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Walker was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2022.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Walker no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.