Dale A. Drozd
How Judge Drozd rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Drozd decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He denies a defendant's motion to dismiss where the plaintiff has adequately pleaded the claim, including an employment retaliation claim.
“For the reasons stated above, defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is denied in its entirety.”
In immigration habeas, requires the government to identify a valid statutory basis for detention; where Section 1226(a) required a warrant and the record showed none, ordered immediate release rather than only a bond hearing.
“Therefore, the court finds that petitioner’s detention is not authorized by statute and the appropriate remedy is petitioner’s immediate release.”
Procedural preferences
He refers prisoner and civil-rights matters to a magistrate judge and, after de novo review even over a pro se litigant's objections, adopts the findings and recommendations in full.
“Defendants' motion to dismiss this action (Doc. No. 43) is granted and this action is dismissed with prejudice”
In ADA access cases he grants default judgment against a non-appearing defendant by adopting the magistrate judge's unopposed recommendation.
“Plaintiff's motion for default judgment against defendants (Doc. No. 19) is granted”
When an immigration detainee has already received the statutory bond hearing, Judge Drozd treats further custody review as unavailable in habeas where binding precedent forecloses the prolonged-detention theory.
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) is DENIED;”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For the reasons stated above, defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is denied in its entirety.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiff's first amended complaint (Doc. No. 16) is GRANTED, without leave to amend; 2. This action is dismissed; and 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case.”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 18) is denied”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss this action (Doc. No. 43) is granted and this action is dismissed with prejudice”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 26) is denied as having been rendered moot by this order”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 32) is granted; ... This action is dismissed, without leave to amend”
“Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend his operative complaint to add defendants and bring claims against those defendants (Doc. No. 36) is denied”
“Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunctive relief (Doc. No. 38) is denied”
“Plaintiff's motion to consolidate cases (Doc. No. 53) is denied”
“Plaintiff's motion for default judgment against defendants (Doc. No. 19) is granted”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 43) is GRANTED IN PART ... The United States' judgment lien encumbers defendant Huckaby's one-half ownership interest in the Property; ... Plaintiff's motion is otherwise DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 218) is GRANTED in its entirety”
“Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment (Doc. No. 219) is DENIED”
“Defendants' motion to exclude expert opinions and testimony pursuant to Daubert (Doc. No. 217) is DENIED as having been rendered moot by this order”
“Defendants' motion for terminating sanctions (Doc. No. 253) is denied as having been rendered moot by this order”
“Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 25) is granted;”
“Petitioner’s first amended petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 6) is GRANTED as follows:”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) is GRANTED as follows:”
“Respondents’ motion to dismiss the petition (Doc. No. 9) is DENIED;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The June 2026 sample is dominated by newly filed consumer warranty cases and immigration-detention habeas petitions, along with general civil matters. Drozd's merits caseload also includes employment, prisoner and pro se civil-rights, and government-defendant civil-rights actions across the Sacramento and Fresno divisions.
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