Ransey Guy Cole Jr.
How Judge Cole rules, drawn from 49 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Cole
Ransey Guy Cole, Jr. is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Cole received a commission on December 26, 1995. Judge Cole assumed senior status on January 9, 2023.
Judge Cole's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Cole'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 Cole decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Shaw’s disability-benefits appeal, Cole found that a plan physician selectively reviewed the medical record by disregarding range-of-motion measurements he acknowledged receiving.
“Dr. Garcia fails to explain why these measurements were not satisfactory.”
In United States v. Barcus, he held that Tennessee’s sex-offense definition used an objective inquiry broader than the federal SORNA tier definition.
“The Tennessee statute asks the jury to make an objective, rather than subjective, inquiry.”
Cole reviewed cancellation-of-removal hardship findings under the statutory substantial-evidence standard rather than substituting the court's assessment of the record.
“Thus, we hold that cancellation-of-removal hardship determinations are to be reviewed under the IIRIRA substantial-evidence standard.”
Cole required cancellation applicants to prove that their own circumstances met the statutory hardship threshold, not merely compare favorably with cases in which relief was denied.
“Applicants for cancellation of removal cannot satisfy § 240A(b)(1)’s hardship standard by arguing only that their circumstances will result in more serious hardships than those cases in which relief was denied.”
Procedural preferences
In K.H. v. Barr, he assessed the government’s response to the applicant’s persecution alongside the broader country conditions.
“we must evaluate past persecution based on 'the overall context of the applicant's situation'”
Cole treated a bankruptcy remand as nonfinal for appellate jurisdiction unless the proceedings left to the bankruptcy court were merely ministerial.
“Further, for the purposes of § 158(d)(1), a district court order remanding a case to a bankruptcy court is not a final order unless the remand is one ‘of a ministerial character.’”
Cautions
In Tindall v. Wayne County Friend of the Court, he applied Younger abstention to the ongoing child-support proceedings and found no extraordinary circumstances warranting federal intervention.
“if we declined to find the requisite 'extraordinary circumstances' to intervene in Sevier, where the plaintiff alleged injuries far more egregious than Tindall's, then a fortiori we are foreclosed also from reaching Tindall's claims.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court.”
“Accordingly, we reverse the district court's orders, vacate the judgment, and remand for further proceedings.”
“It failed, however, to correctly apply our decision in Solis v. Laurelbrook Sanitarium & School, Inc., which governs FLSA claims in an educational setting. ... We therefore reverse the district court's order granting summary judgment to the plaintiffs and remand”
“For the foregoing reasons, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND for resentencing.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we VACATE the judgment of the district court and REMAND this case with instructions to dismiss Tindall’s complaint in its entirety.”
“Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court in denying Abela's § 2254 habeas petition because such petition was filed outside the applicable statute of limitations.”
“For the reasons stated below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“we REVERSE the decision of the district court to deny Defendants Leek and George's motions to suppress and REMAND this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. However, also for the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the district court's denial of Williams's motion to suppress.”
“For the preceding reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“we hold that the district court erred in granting the City's motion for summary judgment, and we accordingly REVERSE its decision... we AFFIRM the district court's denial of Conrail's motion for summary judgment on this ground.”
“For the reasons stated above, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Committee and Class II.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's decision in its entirety.”
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