Susan Russ Walker
Judge Walker no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
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 Social Security appeals she reverses and remands when the ALJ finds a claimant's mental impairments severe but then skips the required functional-area findings under the Psychiatric Review Technique, even where the physical-impairment findings are otherwise supported by substantial evidence -- a rationale she applied consistently eight years apart.
“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.”
She will also remand a Social Security decision where the ALJ discounts a medical opinion without first determining whether that source qualifies as a treating physician, reasoning that a reviewing court cannot assess whether the correct legal standard was applied without that threshold finding.
“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
On a plaintiff's own Rule 41(a)(2) motion to voluntarily dismiss, she grants it readily unless the defendant can show concrete evidence of legal prejudice -- sunk litigation costs, inconvenience, or the mere prospect of being sued again do not count, even over the defendant's objection.
“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.”
On EAJA fee petitions in Social Security appeals she already won for the claimant, she looks specifically at whether the Commissioner's litigation position was substantially justified rather than treating a merits reversal as automatically entitling the claimant to fees.
“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
On a second or successive Section 2254 petition, she treats the absence of a pre-filing authorization order from the Eleventh Circuit as a jurisdictional bar and recommends summary dismissal without reaching the merits at all, a pattern repeated across different petitioners years apart.
“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.”
She enforces AEDPA's one-year habeas limitations period strictly and without leniency for the margin of the miss -- in one case the petition arrived a single day after the deadline and was still denied and dismissed with prejudice.
“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.
A historical record
Judge Walker no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.