Boyce Ficklen Martin Jr.
How Judge Martin rules, drawn from 31 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Martin no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Martin
Boyce Ficklen Martin, Jr. was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, Judge Martin received a commission on September 26, 1979. Judge Martin retired on August 16, 2013.
How Judge Martin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In the IBM retirees' ERISA appeal, he affirmed summary judgment for IBM because it had not seriously considered a particular enhanced-benefit plan before the plaintiffs retired.
“The exception of serious consideration does not apply until a company focuses on a particular plan for a particular purpose.”
In Rapanos's Clean Water Act prosecution, he reinstated the wetlands conviction because the land was hydrologically connected to the Kawkawlin River and the Supreme Court's Solid Waste decision did not invalidate the relevant regulations.
“there exists a hydrological connection among the wetlands, the Drain, and the Kawkawlin River, we find an ample nexus to establish jurisdiction.”
Procedural preferences
In Miami Valley's housing-advertisement case, he ordered a new trial because the jury instructions could lead jurors to find for the landlord even if the advertisement expressed a sex preference.
“We hold that the jury instructions were erroneous and prejudicial enough to warrant reversal.”
Cautions
In Bulls's habeas appeal, he affirmed conditional relief because the admission of a non-testifying codefendant's statement directly supplied evidence of malice and had a substantial effect on the verdict.
“with the admission of Hill's statement, the jury no longer needed to engage in any inferences at all.”
In Collington's sentencing appeal, he affirmed a 120-month sentence below the advisory range after the district court gave reasons under the Section 3553(a) factors.
“When a district court considers the relevant 3553(a) factors in-depth and reaches its determination that the appropriate sentence varies outside the advisory guidelines range, we are very reluctant to find the sentence unreasonable.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court.”
“the district court's judgment on that issue must be REVERSED and the case REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion and the decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio.”
“the district court order denying Jones' petition for a writ of habeas corpus is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“the district court's holding that an environmental impact statement is required before this major drawdown may proceed... is affirmed.”
“We find that Congress has waived sovereign immunity for civil penalties under both the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Therefore, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.”
“we believe the district court erred in ruling that as a matter of law Rouge Steel did not act arbitrarily and capriciously... The case is remanded to the district court for consideration.”
“we DISMISS Blue Cross's appeal as non-reviewable by this Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d)”
“AFFIRM the decision of the district court finding Count I of Zuniga's complaint preempted by ERISA.”
“these appeals be and they hereby are dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.”
A historical record
Judge Martin no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.