Dena M. Coggins
How Judge Coggins rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Coggins
Dena Michaela Coggins is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Coggins received a commission on September 18, 2024.
Judge Coggins's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Coggins, 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.
- Case Management Procedures and Motion Schedule ↗
- Standing Order in Civil Actions ↗
- Standing Order in Criminal Actions ↗
Key rules
Conferences
Counsel must check the final criminal calendar and appear at the confirmed hearing time.
“It is counsel's responsibilities to check the final calendar and appear at the confirmed time.”
Conferences
Civil law-and-motion hearings are held in person on designated Fridays at 1:30 p.m.
“Civil Law and Motion Calendar is held in-person on designated Fridays at 1:30 PM, in Courtroom 10, 13th floor.”
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 Coggins decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In repeated immigration-detention cases, treats objections that merely repeat previously rejected arguments as insufficient to displace a recommendation granting due-process relief.
“those arguments were addressed and rejected by the magistrate judge and the undersigned in this case and in other cases.”
In a residential-foreclosure dispute, granted temporary relief where the homeowner showed serious merits questions and the risk of losing a primary residence outweighed the short delay to the sale.
“the balance of the equities tips sharply in Plaintiff’s favor. Plaintiff faces the risk of losing his primary residence, while the issuance of a temporary restraining order would delay the foreclosure sale”
In an Endangered Species Act summary judgment decision, she required a reasoned connection between the agency record and its conclusion about northern spotted owl recovery units. She reserved the remedy for further briefing after finding that legal flaw.
“Defendant FWS committed legal error by failing to articulate a rational connection”
Procedural preferences
In one Bernal trial ruling, denied a renewed request for remote testimony when the supporting medical evidence left the witness’s inability to appear in person too speculative.
“the basis for Defendant Bliss’s inability to testify in person is too speculative to find a compelling circumstance exists here.”
Cautions
Grants a defendant's motion for summary judgment and enters judgment for the defendant, closing the case.
“2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 57) is granted; 3. Judgment shall be entered in favor of Defendants; and 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. No. 57) is granted; 3. Judgment shall be entered in favor of Defendants; and 4. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case.”
Sua sponte screening disposition under 28 U.S.C. Section 1915A. The magistrate found cognizable Eighth Amendment excessive-force and First Amendment retaliation claims and recommended dismissing the remaining claims without leave to amend because no amended complaint had been filed. With no objections, Coggins adopted the recommendation after de novo review. The order states: '1. The findings and recommendations issued on January 28, 2025 (Doc. No. 14) are ADOPTED in full... 3. All other claims... and all other defendants... are dismissed.'
“Respondent’s motion to dismiss Petitioner’s mixed petition (Doc. No. 13) is granted;”
“Petitioner’s motion for a stay and abeyance under Rhines v. Weber, 544 U.S. 269 (2005) (Doc. No. 20) is denied;”
“Plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. No. 2) is GRANTED1;”
“Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, ECF No. 28, are DENIED;”
“Petitioner Carolina Dussan Pineda’s motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction (Doc. No. 3) is GRANTED;”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus, ECF No. 1, is GRANTED;”
“Respondents’ motion to dismiss, ECF No. 6, is DENIED;”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) is GRANTED;”
“Respondent’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 6) is DENIED;”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) and motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. No. 2) are GRANTED as follows:”
“Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. No. 1) and motion for a temporary restraining order (Doc. No. 2) are GRANTED as follows:”
“habeas corpus (ECF No. 1) is GRANTED;”
“Respondents’ motion to dismiss (ECF No. 10) is DENIED;”
“Petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 5) is DENIED as having been rendered moot by this order;”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Because Coggins joined the court in September 2024, her caseload is dominated by a June 2026 surge of immigration-detention habeas petitions, along with inherited prisoner civil-rights cases and general consumer or product disputes. Many merits dispositions so far have involved district-court action on magistrate-judge recommendations.
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 | 139 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 1 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 2 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 99 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 139 | 99 |
| Sep 2025 | 73 | 79 |
| Mar 2025 | 72 | 71 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 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.
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 Coggins: 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).
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