James F. Metcalf

How Judge Metcalf rules, drawn from 20 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Position
Magistrate judge
Commissioned
November 21, 2011
Signed orders read
20

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).

Key rules from these orders · The court's local rules ↗

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.

Michael Alan Bloom v. Carla Hacker-Agnew
CV-18-08328-PCT-SPL · 2019-12-19
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“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”

Joshua Cheyenne Gilliland v. David Shinn
CV-22-01194-PHX-SPL (JFM) · 2023-01-06
Habeas petition (petitioner) Moot / procedural

“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”

United States v. Carl Allen Ferrer (third-party petitioner April Ferrer)
CR-18-00464-001-PHX-DJH · 2022-03-21
Forfeiture third party petition (third_party_petitioner) Moot / procedural

“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.”

Jonathan Tate v. Unknown Hernandez
CV-19-05089-SPL (JFM) · 2021-05-21
Motion for extension of time (plaintiff) Denied

“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).”

Francisco Guzman v. Shawn Blick
CV-22-00369-PHX-JFM · 2022-05-04

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.

Baljeet Singh Sidhu v. Chad Wolf
CV-20-01189-PHX-MTL · 2021-01-13
Motions to dismiss (respondent) Granted in part

“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.”

Edward Lamar Carpenter v. Charles L. Ryan
CV18-1631 PHX DGC · 2018-10-24
Motion for leave to amend (plaintiff) Granted

“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.”

Screening dismissal (court) 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.”

Michael Carl Allen v. Sgt. Modi
CV-14-00378-PHX-SPL (JFM) · 2015-08-14
Motion for appointment of counsel (plaintiff) Denied

“That Plaintiff's Motion for Appointment of Counsel (Doc. 85) is denied”

Felix Verano Ramirez-Ramos v. Charles L. Ryan
CV-18-8086-PCT-NVW (JFM) · 2019-01-17
Habeas petition (petitioner) 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.”

Shawn Charles Goff v. Trinity Food Service
CV-20-01288-PHX-DLR (JFM) · 2021-09-22
Motion for leave to amend (plaintiff) Denied

“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.”

Brian Leslie Finkel v. Naphcare LLC
CV-23-02501-PHX-KML (JFM) · 2025-02-12
Motion for leave to amend (plaintiff) 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.”

Eric George McNeill v. Ryan Thornell
CV-24-08152-PCT-GMS · 2025-02-11
Habeas petition (petitioner) 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.”

Motions to strike (respondent) Granted

“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 months0
Bench trials submitted more than six months0
Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months0
Social Security appeals pending more than six months0
Civil cases pending more than three years0
ReportMotions over six monthsCases over three years
Mar 202600
Sep 202500
Mar 202500
Sep 202400
Mar 202400
Sep 202300
Mar 202300
Sep 202200
Mar 202200
Sep 202100
Mar 202100
Sep 202000

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.

CasesMedian time
All civil cases closed2,4856 months
Closed with no court action1352.2 months
Closed before pretrial2,0015.2 months
Closed during or after pretrial33515.2 months
Closed during trial1432.4 months
12 months endingCases closedMedian time
Sep 20252,4856 months
Sep 20242,2786.7 months
Sep 20232,1268.3 months
Sep 20222,1819.4 months
Sep 20213,85720.9 months
Sep 20208,12812.2 months
Sep 20192,8429.6 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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