Thomas Lee Kirsch II
How Judge Kirsch rules, drawn from 66 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Kirsch decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A consumer complaint failed where it did not satisfy the statutory pleading requirements for one claim and did not allege a concrete injury supporting standing for the other.
“Because Freeman failed to state an FCRA claim and lacks standing to bring an FDCPA claim, we affirm.”
A sentencing court could rely on ordinary reasoning about general deterrence without first presenting empirical proof of a sentence's deterrent effect.
“District judges need not marshal empirical data on deterrent effects before considering whether a sentence adequately deters criminal conduct.”
Detailed federal statutory text controlled over an invitation to rebalance the competing interests that Congress had addressed.
“Balancing those competing interests is Congress’s job”
Procedural preferences
Federal habeas review remained confined to the state-court record even when later evidence appeared to undermine the identification supporting the conviction.
“Though the photos suggest Woodson is not the man in the video, we may not consider them on habeas review and, accordingly, deny his petition.”
Admissions about the victims' incapacitating circumstances supported treating them as especially vulnerable for sentencing.
“Issa admitted that Weston’s mother was suffering from an incapacitating illness and that Grace Castillo had recently lost her husband, making both victims especially vulnerable to Issa’s crimes.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“On remand, the district court concluded that requiring the registration of pre-SORA sex offenders who have a registration obligation in another jurisdiction is not rationally related to a legitimate state interest and granted summary judgment to plaintiffs. We disagree and now reverse.”
“Thus, 3M's attempt to remove the case under the federal officer removal statute fails under the fourth element. AFFIRMED”
“Because Arroyo is not a qualified individual under the ADA, and because the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the jury verdict of the first trial resulted from passion and prejudice, we affirm.”
“Because Freeman failed to state an FCRA claim and lacks standing to bring an FDCPA claim, we affirm.”
“These arguments lack merit, too, so we affirm.”
“Because the Fund's decision was not downright unreasonable, we agree with the district court and affirm.”
“Given ‘the procedural history of the case and the situation at the time of the dismissal,’ the court did not abuse its discretion and we affirm: there is an adequate record of Nextel's dilatory and insubordinate conduct such that we cannot conclude that ‘no reasonable person could concur’ with the court's dismissal.”
“Without any factual basis tying these broader societal concerns to Joiner's individual situation, the district court was not required to address the argument. Thus, because the district court did not procedurally err, we affirm.”
“Issa has not shown the district court relied on inaccurate information at sentencing. ... Issa has waived any challenge to the district court's application of the enhancement. AFFIRMED”
“Because the Illinois Appellate Court reasonably applied Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979), in upholding Anderson's conviction, we affirm the denial of habeas relief.”
“The stop was not unlawful, and Ambriz-Villa voluntarily consented to the search, which was not tainted by the stop. ... Finding no error, we affirm.”
“not once has he explained to us how he would satisfy the Broadfield-Ugbah safety valve, so we affirm the district court's finding that Newton did not present an extraordinary and compelling reason for early release.”
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