Erin Guy Castillo
How Judge Castillo rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Castillo
Erin Guy Castillo has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of California since May 2026. She previously served on the San Joaquin County Superior Court and practiced civil litigation before joining the state bench.
Judge Castillo's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Castillo, 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 ↗
- Court Procedures ↗
- Stipulated Protective Order (Standard Civil Cases) ↗
- Stipulated Protective Order (Patent and Highly Sensitive Cases) ↗
- Joint Scheduling Report Template ↗
- Trial Conduct and Courtroom Decorum ↗
Key rules
Motions
Judge Guy Castillo lists civil motions for Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m.
“Motion Type: Civil Day: Wednesday 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 Castillo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Moya-Cabrera v. Warden, Castillo recommended granting an immigration habeas petition in part after finding detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c) had become unreasonably prolonged. She recommended an individualized bond hearing with the government bearing the burden, rather than immediate release.
“unreasonably prolonged, and that due process now requires an individualized bond hearing.”
In a Social Security appeal, Castillo held that the ALJ had not connected the cited treatment evidence to the rejection of Dr. Bonilla’s opinion. She remanded because the omitted work limitations could affect the disability finding.
“Critically, the ALJ does not draw a logical bridge between the evidence cited and the medical opinion”
Procedural preferences
Requests for volunteer civil counsel must satisfy the exceptional-circumstances test; ordinary difficulties of incarceration, limited legal training, and indigence do not suffice when the litigant can articulate the claims.
“circumstances exist warranting the appointment of counsel. Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525.”
In Bowerman, Castillo denied a self-represented litigant’s request for electronic filing because she had not shown that conventional filing by mail was unavailable. The request could be renewed on a sufficient showing.
“the Court DENIES the request to file electronically (Doc. 10),”
Cautions
A prisoner subject to the three-strikes bar must allege specific facts showing a genuine and proximate danger at the time of filing; conclusory or historical allegations do not open the imminent-danger exception.
“Plaintiff’s allegations do not satisfy the imminent danger exception to section 1915(g).”
In Ruslanov, Castillo recommended dismissal of a habeas case as duplicative of an earlier action and proposed treating the petitioner’s pending requests as moot. The district judge had not adopted that recommendation in this order.
“Respondents’ motion to dismiss, (Doc. 13), be GRANTED;”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Plaintiff’s construed motion for an extension of time (Doc. 50) is GRANTED;”
“request for the appointment of counsel (Doc. 43) is DENIED.”
“Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, (Doc. 13), be GRANTED;”
“substantial evidence and is therefore VACATED, and the case is REMANDED to the ALJ for”
“not find that the interests of justice require appointment of counsel at the present time.”
“petition, (Doc. 1), be DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Plaintiff’s application to proceed IFP (Doc. 2) be DENIED and Plaintiff be precluded”
“motion for disqualification (Doc. 14) is DENIED.”
“(Doc. 25), is GRANTED. Plaintiff is AWARDED $15,595.00 in attorney’s fees.”
“Plaintiff is GRANTED a 60-day extension of time, from the date of service of this”
After the plaintiff paid the filing fee, Castillo vacated findings and recommendations that had proposed denying construed injunctive relief. The order resolved no motion on its merits and is retained only to document the procedural sequence.
“The Pro Hae Vice Application is APPROVED .”
“petition, (Doc. 1), be DISMISSED without prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 3 days (N = 9).
The twenty oldest matters assigned after Castillo's appointment, filed from May 4 through June 1, 2026, were all pending when reviewed. They included seven prisoner or civil-detainee civil-rights matters, seven other civil matters, three Social Security appeals, and three habeas petitions. The short, all-pending window is descriptive only.
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 Castillo: 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 Castillo with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Castillo, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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