Wallace Capel Jr.
How Judge Capel rules, drawn from 25 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Capel no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Capel
Wallace Capel Jr. served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Alabama from 2006 until his retirement in 2020, including service as chief magistrate judge. He earned degrees from the University of Utah, Auburn University at Montgomery, and Wayne State University Law School. He previously worked as a public defender and assistant attorney general and served as a magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.
How Judge Capel decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Henderson v. Astrue, he described review of the Commissioner's decision as limited and held that a decision supported by substantial evidence was conclusive.
“The Court's review of the Commissioner's decision is a limited one. This Court must find the Commissioner's decision conclusive if it is supported by substantial evidence.”
In a Social Security appeal, he granted the Commissioner's motion to remand, reversing and remanding for further proceedings under sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING Commissioner's 17 MOTION to Remand; for the reasons set forth in the Motion and in this order, the decision of the Commissioner is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings pursuant to sentence four of 42 USC 405(g).”
Procedural preferences
In Foreman v. Jones, he recommended dismissal without prejudice because the plaintiff had failed to exhaust an available administrative remedy.
“This case be dismissed without prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for the plaintiff's failure to exhaust an administrative remedy available to him.”
In Hawes v. Bowden, he recommended dismissal with prejudice for failure to exhaust an administrative remedy previously available to the plaintiff.
“This case be DISMISSED with prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for Plaintiff's failure to exhaust an administrative remedy previously available to him.”
Cautions
In United States v. Miles, he found that the defendant had presented no unique facts or circumstances making his as-applied arguments persuasive.
“Defendant fails to present any unique facts or circumstances in his case which render his 'as-applied' arguments particularly availing.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the undersigned Magistrate Judge hereby RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff's Motion for Voluntary Dismissal of Lee County, Alabama, as a Defendant to this Current Action (Doc. 35) be GRANTED and that all claims presented in the Third Amended Complaint against Defendant Lee County be DISMISSED without prejudice and that Defendant Lee County be DISMISSED from this action.”
“The undersigned further RECOMMENDS that Defendant Lee County's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 30) be DENIED as moot.”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION of the Magistrate Judge that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Prosecute (Doc. 38) be GRANTED and this case be dismissed.”
“the undersigned RECOMMENDS that Defendant's current motion to dismiss (Doc. 6) be DENIED.”
“Upon consideration of the motion, applicable caselaw, and Defendant's own concession that the motion should be denied at this time, the undersigned RECOMMENDS that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. 10) be DENIED.”
“the undersigned Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that the Motion to Dismiss be DENIED.”
“it is the RECOMMENDATION of the undersigned that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED and this case be DISMISSED.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. #35) be DENIED.”
“this case be dismissed with prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for the plaintiff's failure to properly exhaust an administrative remedy previously available to him at the Houston County Jail.”
“This case be dismissed without prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for the plaintiff's failure to exhaust an available administrative remedy available to him during his confinement in the Lee County Detention Center.”
“This case be DISMISSED with prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for Plaintiff's failure to exhaust an administrative remedy previously available to him at the Elmore County Jail.”
“This case be dismissed without prejudice in accordance with the provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section 1997e(a) for the plaintiff's failure to exhaust an available administrative remedy available to him during his confinement in the Russell County Jail.”
“This case be dismissed with prejudice; and 4. The costs of this proceeding be taxed against the plaintiff.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Capel's own consent-jurisdiction caseload sampled here is dominated by Social Security disability appeals, with case durations from about 7 months to 20 months (median roughly 13 months across the 12 read here).
- His broader terminal civil docket (2016-2020, before reassignment following his retirement) also included insurance and ERISA benefits disputes, consumer-credit and Fair Credit Reporting Act suits, a Miller Act payment-bond claim, an employment civil-rights suit, and a products-liability case, though the public docket record retained no entry text for several of those, so they are not separately analyzed.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Capel was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2023.
| 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 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
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 Capel 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.