Stephanie Dawn Thacker
How Judge Thacker rules, drawn from 90 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Thacker
Stephanie Dawn Thacker is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Thacker received a commission on April 17, 2012.
Judge Thacker's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Thacker's own (checked October 11, 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 11, 2026).
How Judge Thacker decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In United States v. Mills, Thacker interpreted an undefined statutory term using its ordinary meaning and the context of the surrounding provisions.
“When, as here, Congress has not provided a definition for a statutory term, we give the term its ordinary, everyday meaning.”
In United States v. Murillo, Thacker rejected the government's reliance on a single plea agreement line when assessing an ineffective assistance claim about deportation advice.
“We hold, however, that a single line from a plea agreement cannot bear the weight the Government would like.”
Procedural preferences
In United States v. Muhammad, Thacker held that a defendant could seek compassionate release 30 days after the warden received his request even without completing an administrative appeal.
“The text of section 3582(c)(1)(A) plainly provides that a defendant may file a motion on his own behalf 30 days after the warden receives his request, regardless of whether the defendant exhausted his administrative remedies.”
In Porter v. Zook, Thacker held that the district court had to hold an evidentiary hearing on the petitioner's juror bias claims.
“In dismissing the actual bias claim, the district court failed to recognize the applicability of Supreme Court precedent requiring a hearing in these circumstances.”
Cautions
In Jaghoori v. Holder, she held that a lawful resident's settled expectation of requesting relief from removal could not be displaced retroactively without clear evidence that Congress intended that result.
“A lawful resident who has lived in the United States long enough to merit consideration for relief from removal has a settled expectation in his opportunity to request such relief. Courts may not disturb that expectation absent clear evidence that Congress intended that effect.”
In Roland v. United States Citizenship & Immigration Services, Thacker held that section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) barred review of the agency's no-risk determination on this petition.
“Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), ‘no court shall have jurisdiction to review’ certain discretionary decisions made by the USCIS, which here includes the no-risk determination. Therefore, the district court lacked jurisdiction to review that determination.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Pursuant to the foregoing, the district court's award of summary judgment to Appellees is affirmed, its ruling that the Chapter is an ‘employer’ under the ADA is vacated, and the cross-appeal is dismissed.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“For the forgoing reasons, the judgement of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“For these reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“We therefore hold double jeopardy bars Appellant's follow-on prosecution in the Western District of Virginia for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. section 846.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“We reverse the district court's judgment and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For all of the reasons detailed herein, the district court did not err in denying summary judgment to Appellants. The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“Based on the foregoing, we affirm Appellant's sentence.”
“In light of the foregoing, the decision of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the district court's dismissal of Appellant's section 3582(c)(1)(A) motion is vacated, and we remand for consideration of the merits.”
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