Frank John Magill
How Judge Magill rules, drawn from 30 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Magill no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Magill
Frank J. Magill was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Magill received a commission on March 4, 1986. Judge Magill assumed senior status on April 1, 1997 and served until death on June 2, 2013.
How Judge Magill decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Magill treated streamlined BIA review as constitutionally sufficient because direct judicial review remained available.
“Where the BIA affirms without opinion we simply review the decision of the IJ directly; the availability of such review is sufficient to satisfy due process.”
He rejected a presumption favoring attorney fees for prevailing ERISA plaintiffs.
“there is no presumption in favor of a fee award for prevailing ERISA plaintiffs.”
Procedural preferences
He treated testimonial ambiguities and conflicts as jury questions when they created a genuine factual dispute.
“Ambiguities and even conflicts in a deponent's testimony are generally matters for the jury to sort out”
He required additional district-court factfinding when the appellate record could not resolve the statutory commerce element.
“because of insufficient fact finding at the district court level on the issue of the Church annex’s commercial connection, we are unable to determine from the record whether the Church annex meets the requirements mandated by Jones.”
Cautions
He emphasized the public-safety rationale underlying official immunity for discretionary police decisions.
“If immunity were withheld from Detective Leyshock, the effect would be to lessen the effectiveness of law enforcement and unreasonably endanger individuals in situations that are already dangerous enough.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“In summary, we: 1) affirm the district court’s custody order in Black Hills II; 2) dismiss with prejudice the appeal of the denial of injunctive relief in Black Hills I; and 3) remand for further proceedings on the merits.”
“We affirm the order of the district court dismissing Fuller’s complaint, denying him leave to amend the complaint, and denying Rule 11 sanctions.”
“Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we refuse to enforce the Board’s order as to the March 26 memorandum, but enforce the order as to Shaleen’s June 18 meeting with Leonard and Berger’s discharge.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgments and sentences of the district court.”
“For these reasons, we affirm the jury’s verdict and the district court’s sentence.”
“Accordingly, we reverse in part, affirm in part, and remand to the tax court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order and the AU’s decision dismissing Steurer’s claims for mother’s insurance benefits and child’s insurance benefits.”
“For the aforementioned reasons, we affirm Hall’s conviction.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Not applicable to this circuit-court record.
A historical record
Judge Magill 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.