Martha Craig Daughtrey
How Judge Daughtrey rules, drawn from 42 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Daughtrey
Martha Craig Daughtrey is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Daughtrey received a commission on November 22, 1993. Judge Daughtrey assumed senior status on January 1, 2009.
Judge Daughtrey's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Daughtrey'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 Daughtrey decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Morgan, Daughtrey rejected the county’s officer-safety justification for a warrantless entry onto the home’s protected curtilage. She explained that the Bill of Rights protects people from government power.
“But the Bill of Rights exists to protect people from the power of the government, not to aid the government.”
At the pleading stage, well-pleaded facts need be plausible rather than persuasive, and reasonable inferences are drawn for the claimant.
“forcing the plaintiff’s well-pleaded facts to be not only plausible, but persuasive. That is not the appropriate burden at this stage of the litigation.”
An obstruction-of-justice enhancement based on trial testimony requires specific findings identifying the perjurious statements and satisfying each element of perjury.
“the district court's failure to make the specific findings necessary to enhance Macias-Farias's sentence for obstruction of justice.”
Procedural preferences
In Wheat v. Fifth Third Bank, she rejected summary judgment where the bank’s argument depended on resolving disputed facts in its own favor.
“the very formulation of the defendant's argument betrays the bank's misunderstanding of basic summary-judgment jurisprudence”
Cautions
In Giles, Daughtrey affirmed the denial of equitable tolling for a late habeas petition because counsel’s deadline calculation error did not qualify as an extraordinary circumstance.
“Thus, the error made by Giles’s attorney in calculating the filing deadline for the habeas petition is not sufficient grounds for equitable tolling.”
An interlocutory qualified-immunity appeal cannot proceed when the officer rejects the plaintiff-favorable facts and relies on a disputed account rather than a neat legal issue.
“We have jurisdiction to hear the appeal of a denial of qualified immunity only when ‘the appeal is premised not on a factual dispute, but rather on 'neat abstract issues of law.'’”
Federal habeas relief cannot rest on a right to counsel at a new-trial hearing when no clearly established Supreme Court law recognizes that right.
“there is no ‘clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court,’ creating a right to counsel at a hearing on a motion for a new trial”
In Woods, Daughtrey called the workplace comments and conduct inappropriate and racially insensitive. The panel nevertheless affirmed summary judgment on the hostile-work-environment claim after reviewing the record in context.
“When directed toward or used to describe an African-American employee, especially the sole African-American employee in a management position, such comments and conduct must be considered both inappropriate and racially insensitive.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“we AFFIRM the district court's judgment enjoining implementation of sections 216 and 217 of the Act.”
“The judgment of the district court is REVERSED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court denying the petitioner a writ of habeas corpus”
“Because all of these errors involve improper factual determinations, we REVERSE the order of the district court and REMAND the matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“We now vacate that COA as improvidently granted.”
“We thus DISMISS the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.”
“we AFFIRM the district court's grant of summary judgment to Wal-Mart”
“We therefore REVERSE that portion of the district court's judgment dismissing that claim, AFFIRM the remainder of the judgment, and REMAND the case to the district court for further proceedings.”
“We therefore REVERSE the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendant and REMAND this matter for such further proceedings as are appropriate.”
“we REVERSE the judgment of the district court insofar as it sets aside the jury's award of punitive damages and REMAND for entry of an order in the district court reinstating and confirming that award”
“we AFFIRM the district court's decision granting summary judgment to the individual officers based on qualified immunity ... we REVERSE the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the county and the county officials in their official capacities”
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Daughtrey, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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