James F. Metcalf
How Judge Metcalf rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Metcalf
James F. Metcalf has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona since November 2011. He sits in Phoenix. His work includes referred habeas matters and civil cases assigned with the parties' consent.
Judge Metcalf's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Metcalf'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 Metcalf decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a Social Security disability appeal, he recommended remand after finding that the administrative judge had not explained how brief hearing performance showed the claimant could function at work despite situational mental impairments.
“workplace given the nature of Plaintiff’s situationally triggered mental impairments.”
Procedural preferences
In an immigration mandamus case, he recommended dismissal as moot after the agency approved the disputed applications and the petitioners did not contest that development.
“Consequently, the undersigned concludes the matter must be dismissed as moot.”
Cautions
In an immigration detention habeas case, he recommended rejecting a post-removal-order theory because the petitioner’s removal was still under administrative review before the immigration appeals board.
“1231(a)(6). Rather, his removal is still being adjudicated administratively before the BIA.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“That the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (Doc. 1) is denied and dismissed with prejudice; That a certificate of appealability and leave to proceed in forma pauperis on appeal are denied”
“That the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (Doc. 1) is stayed pending completion of Petitioner's state post-conviction relief proceedings”
“Petitioner April Ferrer's Stipulated Motion to Withdraw Petition, filed November 22, 2021 (Doc. 114) shall be GRANTED; (B) Petitioner April Ferrer's Stipulated Petition for Determination of Third-Party Interest, filed January 11, 2019 (Doc. 58) shall be DEEMED WITHDRAWN; and (C) The Preliminary Order of Forfeiture (Doc. 23) shall be AMENDED to remove as a forfeitable asset the real property at 7409 KingsBarns, The Colony, Texas 75056.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time for Service (Doc. 61) is denied. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Hernandez and this case are dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m).”
In a pro se civil case assigned to Metcalf without full consent under General Order 21-25, his first R&R on March 14, 2022 recommended sua sponte dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. After the plaintiff's mail was returned undeliverable and he failed to update his address, a second R&R on April 12 recommended dismissal for failure to prosecute. The designated district judge adopted the second R&R and the first in part, dismissing without prejudice and without leave to amend on May 4, 2022.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondents' Motion to Dismiss Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(3) (Doc. 17) is granted in part as provided in the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 24). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this matter is transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the portion of Respondents' Motion requesting dismissal of this matter (part of Doc. 17) is denied.”
“Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint, filed July 16, 2018 (Doc. 13) is construed to include a motion for leave to amend, and that such motion and leave to amend are granted.”
“Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, Defendants Ryan, Rankin, and Thompson are dismissed without prejudice, Count Three of the Second Amended complaint is dismissed without prejudice, and Defendants Corizon, Ende, Bryce, and Russell are ordered to respond to the Second Amended Complaint as set forth in the R&R.”
“That Plaintiff's Motion for Appointment of Counsel (Doc. 85) is denied”
“The Clerk shall enter judgment denying and dismissing petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. 1) with prejudice and terminate this action. A request for a certificate of appealability will be denied because dismissal of the Petition is justified by a plain procedural bar and jurists of reason would not find the procedural ruling debatable.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff's objection to the R&R (Doc. 36) is OVERRULED. The R&R (Doc. 33) is ACCEPTED. Plaintiff's Motion to Amend and Supplement Complaint (Doc. 25) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 47) is ADOPTED IN PART as set forth above. The motion to amend (Doc. 41) is DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (Doc. 30) and as amended as set forth above is accepted. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court enter judgment denying and dismissing Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (Doc. 1) with prejudice.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED granting Defendants' Motion to Strike Surreply (Doc. 38).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled matters include eight consent Social Security cases and three referred cases. The consent cases produced disability decisions and postjudgment fee rulings; the referral cases involved habeas petitions and prisoner screening. This selected sample does not represent the full caseload.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| 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.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the District of Arizona, not for Judge Metcalf: 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).
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