Stephanie Kulp Seymour
How Judge Seymour rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Seymour no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Seymour decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
An employer was not excused from federal overtime obligations merely because its business also violated another federal law.
“‘case law is clear that employers are not excused from complying with federal laws’ because of their other federal violations.”
For double-jeopardy purposes, separate sovereignty turns on the ultimate source of each jurisdiction's prosecutorial power.
“The dual sovereignty test, then, ‘hinges on a single criterion: the “ultimate source” of the power undergirding the respective prosecutions.’”
Procedural preferences
Mootness is a threshold jurisdictional issue that ends a case when effective relief is no longer possible.
“When it becomes impossible for a court to grant effective relief, a live controversy ceases to exist, and the case becomes moot.”
A party that did not request a special verdict on separate factual theories could not later challenge the evidence supporting some of them.
“Because Dr. Petelin does not allege a ‘legal error’ in the sense the Court explained in Griffin, his failure to request a special verdict as to each factual theory contained in Instruction No. 9 prevents him from challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting these factual theories on appeal.”
Cautions
A sentencing court could not impose additional punishment merely because a defendant pleaded guilty without a plea agreement.
“To penalize a defendant based on the absence of a plea agreement alone is arbitrary.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Mr. Lawless appeals his sentence as procedurally and substantively unreasonable, and we affirm.”
“Consequently, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the contested evidence. AFFIRMED.”
“The district court denied Helix's motion to dismiss. We affirm.”
“Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm.”
“Because the district court abused its discretion, we vacate Ms. Cozad's sentence and remand for resentencing.”
“Because Oklahoma second-degree murder does not categorically match generic ‘murder’ under the Guidelines, we reverse.”
“Accordingly, exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we vacate Mr. Kee's conviction and sentence and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“Accordingly, exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we vacate Mr. Tyler's conviction and sentence and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Circuit judges review appeals rather than manage a federal trial docket, so trial-court caseload and motion-timing metrics do not apply.
A historical record
Judge Seymour 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.