Dale A. Drozd
How Judge Drozd rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Drozd
Dale Alan Drozd is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Drozd received a commission on November 2, 2015.
Judge Drozd's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Drozd, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Key rules
Motions
Judge Drozd lists civil motions for the first and third Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m.
“Motion Type: Civil Day: 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month Time: 1:30 p.m.”
Motions
Judge Drozd lists criminal motions for Mondays at 9:30 a.m.
“Motion Type: Criminal Day: Mondays Time: 9:30 a.m.”
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 9, 2026).
How Judge Drozd decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kryzhanovskiy v. Amazon.com Services, Drozd denied an employer's motion to dismiss an employment-retaliation complaint. At the pleading stage, he found the timing of the alleged protected activity and adverse action sufficient to allege causation.
“For the reasons stated above, defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is denied in its entirety.”
In Mayen v. Warden, Drozd granted an immigration habeas petition and ordered immediate release. He found the record lacked the arrest warrant required for detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), and the government identified no other statutory authority.
“Therefore, the court finds that petitioner’s detention is not authorized by statute and the appropriate remedy is petitioner’s immediate release.”
Procedural preferences
In Fuentes v. Mule Creek State Prison, Drozd reviewed a magistrate judge's recommendation in a prisoner civil-rights case and adopted it in full. He dismissed the action with prejudice as a sanction for discovery and court-order violations.
“Defendants' motion to dismiss this action (Doc. No. 43) is granted and this action is dismissed with prejudice”
In Dozier v. Singh, Drozd adopted an unopposed magistrate judge's recommendation in an ADA access case and granted the plaintiff's motion for default judgment, including monetary and accessibility relief.
“Plaintiff's motion for default judgment against defendants (Doc. No. 19) is granted”
In Richardson v. Warden, Drozd denied an immigration detainee's habeas petition after finding he had received the bond hearing required by 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and that circuit precedent foreclosed his prolonged-detention theory.
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) is DENIED;”
In one postjudgment prisoner case, denied a request for publicly funded appeal transcripts when the appellant did not identify the appeal issues or explain which transcripts mattered.
“Plaintiff identifies no substantial issue on appeal”
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.
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 | 16 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 1 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 97 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 16 | 97 |
| Sep 2025 | 4 | 80 |
| Mar 2025 | 7 | 81 |
| Sep 2024 | 10 | 93 |
| Mar 2024 | 8 | 89 |
| Sep 2023 | 32 | 92 |
| Mar 2023 | 54 | 101 |
| Sep 2022 | 99 | 96 |
| Mar 2022 | 102 | 66 |
| Sep 2021 | 81 | 50 |
| Mar 2021 | 55 | 51 |
| Sep 2020 | 32 | 44 |
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 Eastern District of California, not for Judge Drozd: 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 | 2,984 | 8.1 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,029 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 1,899 | 9.1 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 36 | 29.9 months |
| Closed during trial | 20 | 50.5 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,984 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,575 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,528 | 10.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,624 | 11.2 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,316 | 9.9 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,319 | 9.2 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,562 | 10.3 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 Drozd with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Drozd, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Drozd's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace