Michael B. Kaufman
How Judge Kaufman decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In 2241 immigration habeas he frames unlawful re-detention as a due-process violation and remedies it structurally: not just release, but an injunction against re-detention absent a material change in circumstances plus pre-deprivation notice and a hearing -- targeting the procedure, not only the present custody.
“the Court concludes that Petitioner Baryolo's re-detention violated due process ... a writ of habeas corpus be issued requiring Petitioner's immediate release and prohibiting his re-detention absent a material change in circumstances and pre-deprivation notice and a hearing.”
Procedural preferences
He builds compliance verification into his habeas relief, ordering respondents to file a status report within seven days confirming they have complied (held the bond hearing / released the petitioner) -- keeping the case under supervision until the remedy is actually carried out.
“the Respondents shall file a status report no later than seven (7) days from the date of this Order confirming that Petitioner has had a bond hearing, consistent with this order.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Habeas petition N = 2 |
Granted: 2 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDER GRANTING PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS by Magistrate Judge Michael B. Kaufman. For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes that Petitioner Baryolo's re-detention violated due process. Accordingly, the Court ORDERS the following: (1) Judgment be entered granting the Petition as to Petitioner; (2) a writ of habeas corpus be issued requiring Petitioner's immediate release and prohibiting his re-detention absent a material change in circumstances and pre-deprivation notice and a hearing.”
“ORDER GRANTING PETITION AND ISSUING A WRIT FOR HABEAS CORPUS by Magistrate Judge Michael B. Kaufman, re Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, 1. IT IS ORDERED that: the Respondents shall file a status report no later than seven (7) days from the date of this Order confirming that Petitioner has had a bond hearing, consistent with this order.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 11 days (N = 2).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 11 days (N = 2).
search_dockets(assigned_judge='Michael B. Kaufman') is almost ENTIRELY the 2026 alien-detainee 28:2241 habeas surge (nature_of_suit 463, Adelanto/Desert View ICE facilities, Riverside/San Bernardino), filed May/June 2026. UNLIKE other cacd judges' surge dockets, many of these are decided fast on GO 26-05 consent with Kaufman as judge of record (groundable outcomes + latency). A handful are still pending; a couple are MJDAP civil direct-assignments (e.g. McKeon v. Walmart). He also takes referral preliminary matters on district-judge habeas dockets (Alma Martinez Cruz v. Lyons 5:25-cv-02879, where DJ Mark C. Scarsi adopted/agreed with Kaufman's preliminary analysis and signed the TRO/PI ordering release). NAME-TRAP: 'Michael Kaufman' Justia/CL hits are mostly a different person (Loyola-Chicago law dean) or his pre-bench appellate-counsel appearances; excluded.