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Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Appointed by Joseph R. Biden (Democratic)
Commissioned 2023-05-05
Education Yale University, B.A., 1995; University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1999
Signed orders read 14
Last updated 2026-07-12
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 13
counts only
2 3 8
Petition for reviewN = 1
counts only
1
Counted from classified signed orders. A “1 of 1” is one ruling, not a tendency.
About this data
A free Ezel research resource. This profile is built from public records: the judge's own signed orders, public docket records, and published biographies. It is not legal advice and is not affiliated with the court.
How Judge Johnstone decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Allows a complaint to proceed without evidentiary proof that ordinarily belongs in discovery or later merits stages.
“plaintiffs are generally not
expected to provide evidence in support of their claims at the
pleading stage.”
Keeps policy disputes outside rational-basis review when the challenged rule remains rationally related to a legitimate interest.
“those debates are not
the concern of a court conducting rational basis review.”
Treats a pre-bankruptcy accrued claim as property of the bankruptcy estate rather than the debtor.
“her claim belongs to the estate.”
Resists dismissal sanctions for insufficient trade-secret detail before discovery permits the parties to refine the disputed secrets.
“a DTSA trade-secret claim will rarely be dismissible as a
discovery sanction in a situation like the one here because
the fact question of “reasonable particularity” should be
resolved on summary judgment or at trial.”
Avoids unnecessary constitutional rulings when the facial challenge presented can be resolved on narrower grounds.
“we do not reach the constitutionality of the
Victim Contact Limit.”
Recognizes that equitable hardship cannot authorize a court to confer citizenship contrary to governing law.
“courts lack the equitable power to remedy the
government’s errors by granting Moncada citizenship.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Meza-Carmona v. Garland
· 2024-08-26
Petition for review (noncitizen petitioner)
Denied
“PETITION DENIED.”
Bercy v. City of Phoenix
· 2024-05-30
Appeal (employment plaintiff appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Sharma
· 2024-10-28
Appeal (criminal defendant appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Scheibe v. ProSupps USA, LLC
· 2025-06-23
Appeal (consumer plaintiff appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED.”
Bahreman v. Allegiant Air, LLC
· 2024-12-10
Appeal (airline employee appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Center for Investigative Reporting v. U.S. Department of Labor
· 2025-07-30
Appeal (Department of Labor appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice v. Mayes
· 2025-01-23
Appeal (state officials appellants)
Granted
“REVERSED and REMANDED”
Quintara Biosciences, Inc. v. Ruifeng Biztech, Inc.
· 2025-08-12
Appeal (trade-secret plaintiff appellant)
Granted in part
“AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and
REMANDED.”
United States v. Dorsey
· 2024-12-04
Appeal (criminal defendant appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Husayn v. Mitchell
· 2025-06-30
Appeal (detainee plaintiff appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
Moncada v. Rubio
· 2025-08-20
Appeal (citizenship claimant appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
CoStar Group, Inc. v. Commercial Real Estate Exchange, Inc.
· 2025-06-23
Appeal (counterclaimant appellant)
Granted in part
“AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part;
REMANDED for further proceedings.”
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