Salvador Mendoza, Jr.

How Judge Mendoza rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position
circuit
Appointed by
Joseph R. Biden (Democratic)
Commissioned
2022-09-15
Education
University of Washington (B.A., philosophy, 1994); University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law (J.D., 1997)
Signed orders read
22

How Judge Mendoza decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Procedural preferences

Treats binding circuit precedent as controlling even when the trial court disagrees with it, unless a competent court has overruled it.

“Published decisions from this court are binding law that must be followed within the circuit ‘unless and until overruled by a body competent to do so.’”

Cautions

Declines to review a fact-bound summary-judgment issue after trial when the appellant did not preserve the specific challenge through a Rule 50 motion.

“When a party fails to preserve its objections to fact-bound issues through Rule 50 motions following a jury trial, we are typically not free to address those challenges on appeal.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Jones v. City of North Las Vegas
24-3374 · 2025-09-08
Appeal (appellants (plaintiffs Genoa Jones and Cornell Tinsley)) Granted in part

“We reverse, in part, holding that there is no hot pursuit where officers lose track of a suspect for eighteen minutes. We affirm with respect to the K-9 handler's use of force and the claims against the city. We remand for further proceedings.”

Spirit of Aloha Temple v. County of Maui
23-3453 · 2025-03-28
Appeal (appellants (plaintiffs Spirit of Aloha Temple and Fredrick R. Honig)) Denied

“The panel affirmed the district court's judgment in favor of the County of Maui in plaintiffs' action alleging that the County's denial of a special use permit substantially burdened their religious exercise in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA).”

United States v. Vivian Tat
22-50240 · 2024-04-04
Appeal (appellant (defendant Vivian Tat)) Granted

“the panel vacated the sentence imposed at resentencing and remanded for resentencing.”

South Coast Specialty Surgery Center, Inc. v. Blue Cross of California
22-55717 · 2024-01-10
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff South Coast Specialty Surgery Center, Inc.)) Granted

“So we conclude that South Coast has authority to enforce ERISA's protections in federal court, reverse, and remand.”

John Doe v. Cedars-Sinai Health System
23-55466 · 2024-07-05
Appeal (appellants (defendants Cedars-Sinai Health System and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)) Denied

“The panel affirmed the district court's orders remanding removed actions to state court based on a lack of federal officer jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1442(a)(1).”

Bielski v. Coinbase, Inc.
22-15566 · 2023-12-05
Appeal (appellant (defendant Coinbase, Inc.)) Granted

“the panel held that the district court erred in refusing to enforce the delegation provision, and reversed the district court's denial of Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration.”

Aleman-Belloso v. Bondi
23-114 · 2025-02-18
Petition for review (petitioner (Jose Ernesto Aleman-Belloso)) Granted

“Granting Jose Ernesto Aleman-Belloso's petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' decision upholding the denial of asylum and related relief, and remanding, the panel held that the Board erred in concluding that Aleman failed to establish a nexus between any persecution and his political opinion.”

Bent v. Garland
22-1910 · 2024-09-06
Petition for review (petitioner (Claude Stephen Bent)) Granted in part

“an amended opinion granting in part petitioner Claude Stephen Bent's petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of his motion to reopen removal proceedings, and remanding for the BIA to adjudicate petitioner's motion to reopen under the correct legal standards.”

No Labels Party of Arizona v. Fontes
24-563 · 2025-07-11
Appeal (appellant (Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State)) Granted

“The panel (1) reversed the district court's grant of a permanent injunction in favor of No Labels Party of Arizona ... and (2) vacated the permanent injunction.”

Gonzalez v. Herrera
24-2371 · 2025-08-19
Appeal (appellant (petitioner Leon Abel Gonzalez)) Granted

“The panel reversed the district court's order denying Leon Gonzalez's petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2241 and remanded with instructions to grant the petition in part, direct the government to recalculate Gonzalez's earned time credits under the First Step Act of 2018, and provide the recalculation to his probation officer.”

Bowen v. Energizer Holdings, Inc.
23-55116 · 2024-10-01
Appeal (appellant (plaintiff Beth Bowen)) Granted

“The panel reversed the district court's order dismissing, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), Beth Bowen's suit for lack of Article III standing in her action alleging that the Banana Boat sunscreen that she bought contained dangerous levels of benzene.”

In re Genius Brands International, Inc. Securities Litigation (Alavi v. Genius Brands International, Inc.)
22-55760 · 2024-04-05
Appeal (appellants (lead plaintiffs Ali Alavi and A Legacy Foundation, on behalf of a shareholder class)) Granted in part

“The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court's dismissal, for failure to state a claim, of shareholders' securities-fraud complaint against Genius Brands International, Inc., and other defendants.”

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