Quick facts
Court U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Position circuit
Status Retired 1979
Served 1964–1979
Appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
Commissioned 1964-07-02
Education University of Texas, A.B. (1935); University of Texas School of Law, LL.B. (1935); University of Southern California Law School, LL.M. (1949)
Signed orders read 25
Last updated 2026-07-18
Motion outcomes
AppealN = 24
counts only
10 1 13
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 Ely decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Ely treated the government's express deferred-prosecution commitment as enforceable to protect institutional integrity.
“The upholding of the Government’s integrity allows for no other conclusion.”
In copyright analysis, he favored a rule consistent with industry practice and the statute's underlying policies.
“The adoption of this rule, generally advocated by commentators and followed by the film industry, is in accord with the underlying policies of the copyright law”
Ely expected reviewing courts to receive an explained substantial-evidence determination rather than a bare conclusion.
““[a] district court’s finding that there is substantial evidence with no elucidation is of no help to this court.””
He preferred affirming on a clear record ground instead of resolving unsettled questions of state tort law.
“It is needless to put our imprimatur on emerging and as yet unsettled questions of California tort law.”
Ely would not accept speculative emergency concerns as a substitute for evidence supporting warrantless entry.
“In this case, the District Court’s conclusion that an emergency situation existed rested on conjecture.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Marco Antonio Lopez-Hernandez v. United States
· 1968-05-10
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed.”
United States v. Donald Gustav Brader
· 1972-05-15
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“Affirmed.”
United States v. Rene Delgado Barnett
· 1972-11-08
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed and remanded, with directions.”
Wendell Raiford v. United States
· 1973-08-01
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“Affirmed.”
Dorothy Carlson v. The Coca-Cola Company
· 1973-08-20
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“Affirmed.”
John R. Hansen v. Raymond W. May
· 1974-08-15
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed and remanded.”
United States v. David Javier Garcia
· 1975-07-23
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed and remanded, with directions.”
Alexandria S. Day v. Caspar W. Weinberger
· 1975-09-17
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“Reversed and remanded.”
United States v. Bernardino Ruesga-Martinez
· 1976-06-02
Appeal (appellant)
Granted
“REVERSED AND REMANDED.”
In re Extradition of Mario Francesco Magisano
· 1976-11-16
Appeal (appellant)
Denied
“AFFIRMED.”
United States v. Edward Frank Snell and Erwin William Schmidt
· 1977-03-21
Appeal (appellant)
Granted in part
“REVERSED in part; AFFIRMED in part.”
Jovita Rubio De Cachu v. Immigration & Naturalization Service
· 1977-12-02
Petition for review (petitioner)
Denied
“The Order of the Board is AFFIRMED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Not applicable to this circuit-court record.
A historical record
Judge Ely no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.