Charles Andrew Muecke

United States District Court for the District of Arizona district Deceased · served 1964–2007 Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) 23 signed orders read

Judge Muecke no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Muecke decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

He resolved statutory disputes on the plain language of the text, declining to resort to legislative history where the words were clear and construing enactments to avoid constitutional doubt.

“the Court notes that it need not refer to legislative history as the language of the rider is clear.”

Procedural preferences

He enforced the district's local rules on discovery motions strictly, denying relief where the moving party had not certified a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute before filing.

“Defendant has entirely failed to comply with the Local Rules applicable to discovery motions.”

Cautions

In preemption and statutory-purpose analysis he weighed the practical consequences of a proposed rule against the objectives Congress set, declining readings that would defeat the statute's design.

“Requiring secondary purchasers to repay loans obtained by schools by fraudulent means would punish innocent nonprofit purchasers and drive them out of the student loan program.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Kolbe v. Trudel
· 1996-05-09
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendants’ motion to dismiss (Doc. # 5) IS GRANTED.”

Silver v. Babbitt
· 1995-05-10
Motion to vacate (government) Denied

“Defendants’ motion to vacate court ordered deadline for designation of critical habitat [filed 4/25/95] is denied.”

United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe
· 1985-02-21
Summary judgment (government) Granted

“The United States is accordingly entitled to summary judgment in this action.”

State of Arizona v. Motorola, Inc.
· 1992-07-20
Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

“Defendants’ joint motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of divisibility of alleged harm (Doc. # 614) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Tomar Electronics, Inc. v. Whelen Technologies, Inc.
· 1992-10-30
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural

“the filing of the first amended complaint renders moot this motion, since Amster is no longer a defendant.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“this Court has personal jurisdiction over Whelen and venue is proper in Arizona”

Motions to transfer (defendant) Denied

“Defendant Whelen’s motion to transfer (Doc. # 6-2) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Motions to stay (defendant) Denied

“Defendant Whelen’s motion for stay of discovery (Doe. #6-1) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Motion to amend scheduling order (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff Tomar’s motion to reset schedules (Doc. #15) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Motions to strike (defendant) Denied

“Defendant Whelen’s motion to strike (Doc. # 18) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Motion for protective order (defendant) Denied

“Defendant Whelen’s motion for protective order (Doe. #20) IS HEREBY DENIED.”

Hellon & Associates, Inc. v. Phoenix Resort Corp.
· 1990-12-18
Motion for substitution (defendant) Granted

“Defendant’s motion for substitution (Doc. # 2) is granted.”

Motions to remand (plaintiff) Granted

“Plaintiff's motion to remand (Doc. # 10) is granted.”

Tietjen v. United States Veteran's Administration
· 1988-08-18
Motions to dismiss (government) Granted

“defendants’ Motion to Dismiss/Motion For Summary Judgment is granted.”

Robert C. v. United States
· 1986-07-03
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe’s Motion to Dismiss, filed April 17, 1986 and the United States’ Motion for Summary Judgment, filed April 30, 1986, both treated as motions for summary judgment, are granted.”

Summary judgment (government) Granted

“both treated as motions for summary judgment, are granted.”

Woratzeck v. Lewis
· 1994-08-04
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“denying Petitioner’s petition filed September 24, 1984”

Summary judgment (petitioner) Denied

“denying Petitioner’s motion for summary judgment”

Summary judgment (government) Granted

“granting Respondents’ motion for summary judgment”

Motion for evidentiary hearing (petitioner) Denied

“denying Petitioner’s motion for an evidentiary hearing and/or leave to amend the petition”

Jennings v. Bowen
· 1988-12-22
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is granted, defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is denied, and that this matter be remanded to the Secretary for immediate payment of benefits.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

“defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment is denied”

White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Clark
· 1984-10-12
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“the Federal Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, filed February 9, 1984 is granted.”

Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Moot / procedural

“Plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief to prevent further trespass is therefore denied as moot.”

Gluth v. Kangas
· 1990-08-28
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment is granted.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Denied

“the Court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”

Motion for reconsideration (defendant) Denied

“On December 29, 1988, the Court denied defendants’ motion for reconsideration.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

No electronic case-level dockets assigned to Muecke were located for this historical tenure, so no caseload mix or duration claim is made.

A historical record

Judge Muecke 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.