William D. Keller
How Judge Keller rules, drawn from 3 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Keller no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Keller
William Duffy Keller was a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Judge Keller received a commission on October 4, 1984. Judge Keller assumed senior status on October 29, 1999 and served until death on November 2, 2025.
How Judge Keller decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Rejected a constitutional attack on the 1986 False Claims Act amendments and let the qui tam suit proceed, denying the defense motions to dismiss.
“It is this Court's conclusion that the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act must survive the defendants' constitutional challenges. ... For this reason, the defendants' motions to dismiss are hereby DENIED.”
Procedural preferences
In Galeska v. Duncan, he reviewed and adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation before denying the habeas petition.
“the Court has reviewed the pleadings and other papers herein, the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, and approves and adopts the Magistrate Judge's findings, conclusions and recommendations.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“It is this Court's conclusion that the 1986 amendments to the False Claims Act must survive the defendants' constitutional challenges. ... For this reason, the defendants' motions to dismiss are hereby DENIED.”
“Accordingly, plaintiffs Motion to Remand and accompanying request for sanctions are DENIED.”
“defendants are GRANTED SUMMARY JUDGMENT on plaintiffs Sixth Cause of Action pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Plaintiffs Causes of Action Five, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Nineteen (B) and Twenty (B) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Court has reviewed the pleadings and other papers herein, the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, and approves and adopts the Magistrate Judge’s findings, conclusions and recommendations. ... IT IS RESPECTFULLY RECOMMENDED that the Court issue an Order: ... (2) directing that Judgment be entered denying and dismissing the petition for writ of habeas corpus with prejudice as an abuse of the writ;”
“The motion of the respondents to restrict the petitioner's access to the court is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- His enumerable docket is a 2024 senior-judge slate (filed mid-2024, terminated 2024-2025 before his November 2025 death): pro se prisoner and general habeas, in forma pauperis civil-rights suits against municipalities, a Social Security disability appeal, and commercial signal-piracy collection suits.
- Durations below are filed-to-terminated for terminated cases in that slate (n=17).
- The nature-of-suit mix is taken from the case captions where the case-level records were blank.
- His 1984-1999 active-service caseload predates electronic coverage.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Keller was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 3 | 3 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 6 |
| Sep 2023 | 3 | 3 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 4 | 0 |
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.
A historical record
Judge Keller no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.