Jacqueline Marshall Rateau
How Judge Rateau rules, drawn from 36 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Rateau
Jacqueline Marshall Rateau is a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona in Tucson. She joined the bench in July 2001 and earned a law degree from the University of Arizona.
Judge Rateau's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Rateau's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026).
How Judge Rateau decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
On First Step Act time-credit habeas, her recommendation (as adopted) holds that a medium-risk inmate has no liberty interest in application of earned FSA time credits and that the court cannot compel discretionary BOP placement decisions.
“The R&R concluded that discretionary authority cannot give rise to a liberty interest, and that Petitioner has no right to dictate his earned FSA time credits be applied in a specific way. ... the Court cannot compel the BOP to perform the discretionary action of deeming Petitioner eligible under 3624(g).”
Cautions
In Sartin v. Ryan, Rateau recommended denying a § 2254 petition as untimely. The district judge adopted her recommendation despite the petitioner's equitable-tolling objection based on time in isolation.
“even if Petitioner is correct, his petition remains untimely because his one-year limitations period expired on October 19, 2012 and he filed this petition on August 6, 2014. Because Sartin's petition remains untimely, this Court will accept and adopt the R & R and deny the petition.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“On May 7, 2024, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Rateau issued a Report and Recommendation (‘R&R) in which she recommend this Court deny the Petition. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED ADOPTING IN FULL the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 11). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED DENYING the Petition. (Doc. 1).”
“this Court shall overrule Petitioner's objections, accept and adopt the R & R and deny Sartin's petition. ... Because Sartin's petition remains untimely, this Court will accept and adopt the R & R and deny the petition. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau's Report and Recommendation is accepted and adopted.”
“On January 18, 2017, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that this Court deny Defendant's Motion to Dismiss because each count of Defendant's indictment constitutes a separate crime ... IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 114) is accepted and adopted in full. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count 1 or 2 (Doc. 39) is denied.”
“On April 14, 2017, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau issued a Report and Recommendation (Doc. 35) recommending that this Court grant Defendant's Motion to Suppress (Doc. 17). ... IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 35) is accepted and adopted in full. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Suppress (Doc. 17) is granted.”
“On November 16, 2023, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Rateau issued a Report and Recommendation (Doc. 27), recommending that this Court reverse the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security and remand this matter to the agency for further administrative proceedings. ... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 24) is granted. The decision of the Commissioner of Social Security is reversed, and this matter is remanded to the Commissioner for further administrative proceedings”
“The Report and Recommendation (Doc. 33) is ADOPTED IN PART AND REJECTED IN PART as set forth in this Order.”
“IT IS ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 28) is accepted and adopted in full.”
“Accordingly, the Court accepts and adopts Judge Rateau's R&R (Doc. 20) in full. The Clerk of the Court is directed to terminate this action and enter judgment accordingly.”
“Floyd Lewis Foster Jr.'s Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (Doc. 1) is DENIED.”
“Garcia's Petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody is DENIED AND THIS CASE IS DISMISSED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Suppress Unconstitutional Seizure (Doc. 30) is granted. All evidence seized as a result of the unlawful stop and subsequent search is suppressed.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant's Motion to Suppress Identification Evidence (Doc. 36) is denied.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Defendant's Motion to Suppress Statements (Doc. 35) is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Rateau has served as a magistrate judge in Tucson since July 2001.
- The sampled 2026 docket is dominated by border and immigration criminal-duty matters, including initial appearances and detention proceedings, along with Social Security appeals and civil cases handled by consent.
- Her habeas and criminal merits work generally takes the form of recommendations subject to final review by district judges.
- This describes the mix of sampled matters rather than an overall outcome rate.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Arizona, not for Judge Rateau: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Closed with no court action | 135 | 2.2 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,001 | 5.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 335 | 15.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 14 | 32.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,485 | 6 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,278 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,126 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,181 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,857 | 20.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 8,128 | 12.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,842 | 9.6 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Rateau with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Rateau, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Rateau's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace