Sherilyn Peace Garnett
How Judge Garnett rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Garnett
Sherilyn Peace Garnett is a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Garnett received a commission on June 24, 2022.
Judge Garnett's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Garnett, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Judge's Procedures and Schedules ↗
- Schedule of Pretrial and Trial Dates Worksheet - as of 12.30.24 ↗
- Schedule of Pretrial and Trial Dates Worksheet for Class Actions - as of 12.30.24 ↗
- Standing Order for Civil Cases 1-10-25 (final)v2 ↗
- Standing Order for Civil Scheduling Conference 1-15-25 ↗
- Standing Order for Civil Trial 11-16-23 ↗
- Standing Order for Criminal Cases 11-7-25.pdf ↗
- Standing Order for MSJ 7-1-25 ↗
- TEMPLATE - Final Pretrial Conference Order ↗
- TEMPLATE - Joint Exhibit List ↗
- TEMPLATE - Proposed Order ↗
- TEMPLATE - Witness List ↗
Key rules
Filing
For civil matters, provide paper chambers copies of summary judgment papers only unless the court requests others.
“Civil Matters: Motions for Summary Judgment papers (joint brief, appendix of facts, appendix of evidence, and related documents). Please do not send paper copies of any other documents for civil matters unless requested by the Court.”
Discovery
Calendar discovery matters before the assigned magistrate judge and mark discovery filings “DISCOVERY MATTER”.
“5. Discovery Matters: All discovery matters are referred to the assigned magistrate judge. All discovery documents must include the words ‘DISCOVERY MATTER’ in the caption to ensure proper routing.”
Conferences
For a remote appearance, file a request and proposed order by the Friday before the hearing; good cause and prior approval are required.
“All proceedings will be held in person in Courtroom 5C. Remote appearances are not permitted absent good cause and prior Court approval. To request permission to appear remotely, counsel must file a request along with a proposed order by the Friday before the scheduled hearing. Do not contact the Courtroom Deputy Clerk to request permission to appear remotely. If the Court approves counsel's request, counsel is directed to use the link below.”
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 8, 2026).
- General Order 11-10: Alternative Dispute Resolution Program ↗
- General Order 19-01: Criminal Duty Matters Electronic Filing Pilot Project ↗
- General Order 20-13: Criminal Duty Matters Electronic Filing Pilot Project ↗
- General Order 18-02: Submission of Certain Prisoner Filings Through Electronic Mail ↗
- General Order 24-07: Criminal Justice Act Plan ↗
How Judge Garnett decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Gershkowitz v. State Farm General Insurance Company, Garnett granted a motion in limine excluding lay-witness testimony about causation.
“ORDER RE LAY WITNESS TESTIMONY OF STATE FARM WITNESSES (1) YENNY URQUILLA AND (2) DONNA BLAZEWICH by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs motion in limine to exclude the testimony of Mses. Yenny Urquilla and Donna Blazewich as it pertains to causation 46.”
In Diaz v. Amazon.com Services LLC, Garnett remanded the employment case because the removing defendant had not supported its amount-in-controversy assumptions with comparable evidence.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion and REMANDS the case to the California Superior Court for Ventura County.”
In J.M.G. v. Warden, Garnett granted habeas relief after finding that officials had not followed the required process to revoke release under supervision.
“where ICE fails to follow its own regulations in 15 revoking release, the detention is unlawful and the petitioner’s release must be ordered.”
Procedural preferences
In Garcia v. Lemonade Insurance Company, Garnett denied the plaintiff’s motion to remand and retained the case in federal court.
“ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO REMAND 17 by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. The Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Remand.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO REMAND 17 by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett. The Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Remand.”
“ORDER RE LAY WITNESS TESTIMONY OF STATE FARM WITNESSES (1) YENNY URQUILLA AND (2) DONNA BLAZEWICH by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs motion in limine to exclude the testimony of Mses. Yenny Urquilla and Donna Blazewich as it pertains to causation 46.”
“Respondents are ORDERED to provide Petitioner with an individualized bond hearing pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1226(a) no later than seven (7) days from the date this Order is issued.”
“The Court DENIES the request for a preliminary injunction and DISMISSES this case as moot.”
“IT IS ORDERED: 1. Judgment be entered GRANTING the Petition; 2. Petitioner Abdusamat Bakyt, A#236-066-532, shall be immediately released from Respondent’s custody.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion and REMANDS the case to the California Superior Court for Ventura County.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion. This action is REMANDED to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and this case is closed.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion.”
“the Court also DENIES, as moot, Foremost’s 28 Motion to Dismiss.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS the Motion.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the Motion.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Mixed civil and criminal docket spanning employment, insurance, disability-access, intellectual property, civil rights, habeas, Social Security, and personal-injury matters. The 2026 filing windows are heavily weighted toward immigration detention; Kamboj produced temporary bond-hearing relief before moot dismissal, while Bakyt obtained final habeas relief and immediate release.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 1 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 1 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 9 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 9 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 13 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 11 |
| Sep 2024 | 6 | 18 |
| Mar 2024 | 4 | 11 |
| Sep 2023 | 6 | 6 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 8 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Central District of California, not for Judge Garnett: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 15,190 | 3.9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 4,414 | 3.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 10,538 | 4.3 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 103 | 17.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 135 | 25.7 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 15,190 | 3.9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 15,348 | 3.9 months |
| Sep 2023 | 13,583 | 4.4 months |
| Sep 2022 | 12,887 | 4.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 14,213 | 4.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 14,205 | 5 months |
| Sep 2019 | 13,478 | 4.9 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
Draft for Judge Garnett with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Garnett, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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