Patricia A. Donahue
How Judge Donahue decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Social Security appeals she remands on an 'open record' when she reverses, rather than ordering an award of benefits -- returning the case to the agency for further proceedings consistent with her opinion rather than substituting her own disability finding.
“The ALJ's decision is reversed, and the case is remanded on an open record. A separate judgment will issue.”
Procedural preferences
When she affirms the Commissioner she dismisses the action with prejudice in the same judgment -- a clean, final disposition rather than a remand-for-clarification half-measure.
“IT IS ORDERED that judgment be entered AFFIRMING the Acting Commissioner's decision, DENYING Plaintiff's request for remand, and DISMISSING this action with prejudice.”
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.
| Social security appeal N = 5 |
Granted: 4Denied: 1 | 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.
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REVERSING AGENCY DECISION AND REMANDING by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue. The ALJ's decision is reversed, and the case is remanded on an open record. A separate judgment will issue.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER AFFIRMING COMMISSIONER by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue. IT IS ORDERED that judgment be entered AFFIRMING the Acting Commissioner's decision, DENYING Plaintiff's request for remand, and DISMISSING this action with prejudice.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REVERSING AGENCY DECISION AND REMANDING by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue. The ALJ's decision is reversed [and the matter remanded].”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REVERSING AGENCY DECISION AND REMANDING by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Judgment be entered reversing the [Commissioner's] decision [and remanding].”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 393 days (N = 5).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 302 days (N = 3).
search_dockets(assigned_judge='Patricia A. Donahue') is currently DOMINATED by the 2026 alien-detainee 28:2241 habeas surge (nature_of_suit 463, Adelanto/Desert View ICE facilities, Riverside/San Bernardino) -- all filed May/June 2026 and pending, so they give no latency or durations. Behind that surge her enumerable merits docket is consent-magistrate Social Security disability appeals (864/DIWC), where she is judge of record and issues final Memorandum Opinions appealable directly to the Ninth Circuit. She also sits as a referral civil-discovery magistrate (protective orders, e.g. Waterman v. Twitter, Washington v. Kia) and on criminal duty (approving and sealing complaints/indictments, e.g. US v. Daren Li, US v. Terren Peizer). EX-AUSA name trap: pre-2020 'Patricia A. Donahue' records are her prosecutor career, excluded.