Edmund F. Brennan
How Judge Brennan rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Brennan no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Brennan
Edmund F. Brennan was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of California in August 2006 and is listed by the court as a recalled judge. Before his appointment, he clerked for District Judge Edward J. Garcia and served as chief of the civil division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
How Judge Brennan decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Adams v. Commissioner, Brennan remanded a Social Security overpayment dispute because the ALJ treated a vending-program fee as rent without support in the agreements or findings about the value of state-provided business expenses.
“The ALJ’s conclusion that the six percent fee represents a form of rent finds no support in the record.”
In Gross v. Commissioner, Brennan remanded a disability appeal after finding that the ALJ had overlooked parts of a medical report supporting the stress limitation she had rejected.
“The ALJ offered no analysis before proclaiming that nothing in the report supported Regazzi’s limitation.”
Cautions
In Gosztyla v. Jenkins, Brennan recommended summary judgment for failure to exhaust search and retaliation claims because the prisoner’s grievance mentioned the searches only in passing and requested relief solely from a disciplinary report.
“Because it does not request any remedy related to alleged searches, and only mentions them in passing while focusing on a false RVR, No. 1806 does not serve to exhaust his search-related claims.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Respondent's November 26, 2007, motion to dismiss be granted in part and denied in part as discussed above”
“Petitioner's December 26, 2007, motion to stay this action be denied”
“Respondent's July 29, 2016 motion to dismiss (ECF No. 15) be granted in part such that petitioner's ground four for relief (alleging ineffective assistance of counsel) be dismissed”
“the July 20, 2012 motion for summary judgment (Dckt. No. 56) be granted as to defendants Berchtold and Brimhall and denied as to defendants Nangalama, Hale, Duc, and Bal”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is granted ... The matter is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this order”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 14) is GRANTED ... This matter is REMANDED for additional administrative proceedings”
“defendant's motion to dismiss (ECF No. 42), construed as a motion for summary judgment, be granted, that judgment be entered in favor of defendants, and that this action be closed, without prejudice”
“defendant's motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 33) be granted and this case dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust administrative remedies”
“defendant's request to strike plaintiff's unauthorized sur-reply (ECF No. 38) is granted”
“Plaintiff's motion for leave to file a fifth amended complaint (ECF No. 45) is GRANTED”
“defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings (ECF No. 42) be DENIED as moot”
“defendants' motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 45) be GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART ... summary judgment be entered as to plaintiff's claim against Kirkendall-Cooper; and ... summary judgment be denied as to plaintiff's claim against Wong”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss, ECF No. 97, be granted; ... Plaintiff's fifth amended complaint be dismissed without further leave to amend”
During statutory screening of a prisoner's civil-rights complaint, he found the claims barred by Heck v. Humphrey because success would invalidate the plaintiff's still-operative death-sentence conviction. He recommended dismissal without leave to amend as futile and directly granted the application to proceed in forma pauperis.
During in forma pauperis screening of a pro se civil-rights complaint, he found the claims barred by judicial and prosecutorial immunity, the rule that public defenders are not state actors, Heck v. Humphrey, and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. He recommended dismissal without leave to amend and directly granted the application to proceed in forma pauperis.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Edmund F. Brennan was the consent (636(c)) assigned magistrate judge on a Sacramento docket that carried a large block of Social Security appeals, in which he entered the final consent judgment. His broader docket also carried referred prisoner civil-rights (42 U.S.C. 1983) and state habeas (28 U.S.C. 2254) matters and a criminal duty calendar.
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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 1 |
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 Brennan no longer sits on this court. 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.