John W. Holcomb

How Judge Holcomb rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the Central District of California
Position
district
Appointed by
Donald Trump (Republican)
Commissioned
2020-09-18
ABA rating
Substantial majority Well Qualified / Minority Qualified
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. Civil Engineering, 1984); Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1993); Harvard Business School (M.B.A., 1993)
Signed orders read
2

How Judge Holcomb decides

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

Procedural preferences

Accepts the magistrate's report and recommendation denying habeas relief and declines to issue a certificate of appealability.

“ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AND DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY by Judge John W. Holcomb. ... 1. The findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge in the Report and Recommendation are ACCEPTED. 2. Judgment shall be entered DENYING the petition and DISMISSING this action with prejudice. 3. ... a certificate of appealability will not issue in this action.”

Cautions

Denies a habeas petition and dismisses the action with prejudice, entering judgment on the magistrate's report and recommendation.

“JUDGMENT by Judge John W. Holcomb, Related to: R&R - Accepting Report and Recommendations, 28 It is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED as follows: 1. The Petition in this matter is DENIED. 2. The action is DISMISSED with prejudice. (MD JS-6, Case Terminated).”

Signed rulings

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

Jorge Carcamo Privado v. Lemon
2:22-cv-06304 · 2023-12-11
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“JUDGMENT by Judge John W. Holcomb, Related to: R&R - Accepting Report and Recommendations, 28 It is hereby ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED as follows: 1. The Petition in this matter is DENIED. 2. The action is DISMISSED with prejudice. (MD JS-6, Case Terminated).”

Mario Roderick Stevens v. Raymond Madden
2:22-cv-06138 · 2025-06-05
Habeas petition (petitioner) Denied

“ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AND DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY by Judge John W. Holcomb. ... 1. The findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge in the Report and Recommendation are ACCEPTED. 2. Judgment shall be entered DENYING the petition and DISMISSING this action with prejudice. 3. ... a certificate of appealability will not issue in this action.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

  • A sample of his assigned cases drawn from the docket record across several filing windows.
  • His current intake (May-June 2026) is overwhelmingly the alien-detainee Section 2241 habeas surge (Adelanto/Desert View ICE; nature of suit 463), almost all still pending.
  • Older terminated dockets span copyright (the high-profile Starz v. MGM, settled), trade secrets (DTSA), False Claims Act qui tam, consumer credit/FCRA, motor-vehicle PI, immigration mandamus, Sec.2254 habeas, ADA/Title III, and a federal-criminal calendar.
  • Durations below are filed-minus-terminated for terminated dockets in the sample.

Draft for Judge Holcomb with the record in hand

Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Holcomb, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.

Opens in Ezel Pro.

  • Grounded in Judge Holcomb's own signed orders
  • Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
  • Chat, drafting and research in one workspace