Dennis L. Beck
How Judge Beck rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Beck
Dennis L. Beck served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of California. He retired from regular judicial service on December 12, 2012.
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 Beck decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Storrar v. Astrue, Beck denied remand based on purported new medical evidence because the claimant submitted no records or opinions from the doctor, leaving the court unable to assess materiality or a possible effect on the administrative outcome.
“As a practical matter, Plaintiff failed to submit any records or opinions from Dr. Middleton. This failure prevents the Court from determining whether the evidence is material to her condition during the disability period or whether there is a reasonable possibility that the new evidence would have changed the outcome of the administrative hearing.”
Procedural preferences
In Givens v. Adams, Beck recommended denying the plaintiff’s request for an injunction over mail interference after the operative complaint had been dismissed. The district judge adopted the recommendation, explaining that interim relief must preserve the substance of a pending case.
“As explained by the Magistrate Judge, preliminary injunctive relief is designed to preserve the status quo regarding the substance of the case; it is not available for the purpose of ensuring that Plaintiff can effectively or efficiently litigate his case.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The March 10, 2007 Findings and Recommendations are ADOPTED in FULL; Plaintiff's motions for injunctive relief [documents #60 & #70] are DENIED”
“this Court DENIES Plaintiff's appeal from the administrative decision of the Commissioner of Social Security. The clerk of this Court is DIRECTED to enter judgment in favor of Defendant Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, and against Plaintiff Amy M. Storrar.”
“the Court recommends that Defendants' motion to dismiss be GRANTED, and that Plaintiff's state law claims be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE AND WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND.”
Construed civil-rights complaint where plaintiff neither paid the $400 filing fee nor filed an in-forma-pauperis application. Beck ordered plaintiff, within 15 days, to file an in-forma-pauperis application or pay the fee in full, warning that failure would result in dismissal. This is a docket-control / fee-compliance order and resolved no pending party motion.
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 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 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 Beck: 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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