Jennifer L. Thurston
How Judge Thurston rules, drawn from 30 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Thurston
Jennifer Leigh Thurston is a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Thurston received a commission on December 27, 2021.
Judge Thurston's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Thurston, 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 Thurston lists civil motions Monday through Friday at 9:00 a.m.
“Motion Type: Civil Day: Mon. through Fri. Time: 9:00 a.m.”
Motions
Judge Thurston lists criminal motions for Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
“Motion Type: Criminal Day: Friday Time: 9:00 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 Thurston decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Ovcharenko v. Golden State Annex Detention Facility Warden, she ordered an immigration detainee's release after finding that re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated due process and the government offered no justification for detention.
“Respondents offer little to rebut Petitioner’s due process claim and do not provide any justification for detaining Petitioner. Therefore, for the reasons stated in this Court’s prior orders, the Court finds that Petitioner’s re-detention without a pre-deprivation hearing violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The motion to dismiss the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Claims for Relief as stated against Blue Diamond Growers is GRANTED, with leave to amend.”
“Defendant's motion to dismiss is GRANTED with the following exceptions: a. The motion is DENIED as to Plaintiff's Title VII retaliation claim based upon her transfer to office work only and GRANTED in all other respects. ... b. The motion is DENIED as to Plaintiff's Title VII sex discrimination based on a hostile work environment.”
“1. The Findings and Recommendations dated (Doc. 16) are ADOPTED in full. 2. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss (Doc. 8) is GRANTED. 3. Defendant's first and second counterclaims are DISMISSED with leave to amend.”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED. ... Respondents are ORDERED TO RELEASE Petitioner immediately.”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus is GRANTED.”
“Counter-Defendants' motion to strike is granted in part and denied in part as follows: a. Counter-Defendants' motion to strike the first cause of action for defamation is DENIED. b. Counter-Defendants' motion to strike the second and third causes of action for intentional interference with contractual relations are GRANTED without leave to amend.”
“Counter-Defendants' motion to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part as follows: a. Counter-Defendants' motion to dismiss the first cause of action for defamation is DENIED. b. Counter-Defendants' motion to dismiss the second and third causes of action for intentional interference with contractual relations are GRANTED without leave to amend.”
“Thus, because the Closing Date Deadline was June 29, 2021 and the Closing and Closing Date had not yet occurred, and because Defendants make no compelling argument to support their position that Plaintiff's purported failure to satisfy manufacturer conditions bears on the sufficiency of the allegations, Defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. 43) is DENIED.”
“In short, the Court is unconcerned that the calls were recorded—this was a consequence of Mr. Guilford's decision to use the phones that he knew would result in the calls being recorded. The Court's concern results only upon the government listening to the calls, which, as noted above, has not resulted in prejudice to Mr. Guilford. Again, there is no hint that the AUSA or those currently involved in this action have gained any information about Mr. Guilford's trial strategy or otherwise. While the entire situation is unfortunate, it does not convince the Court that dismissal of the indictment is warranted. Thus, the motion to dismiss the indictment is DENIED.”
“Because the Court finds there was probable cause to support the search warrant for the cell phone data, the motion to suppress (Doc. 1120) is DENIED.”
“For the reasons set forth above, Petitioner's motions for a temporary restraining order (Docs. 2, 3) are DENIED”
“The Findings and Recommendations issued on September 24, 2025 (Doc. 34) are ADOPTED in full. 2. Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 26) is GRANTED. 3. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment for Defendants, terminate all pending motions, and to close this case.”
“Plaintiff's motion reconsideration (Doc. 12) is DENIED. 2. The case shall remain closed, and the Court will not consider any further filings in this action.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The reviewed dockets include prisoner civil-rights, disability-access, Social Security, commercial, and other civil matters. Nineteen motion outcomes came from ten cases: eight in the fixed January 2023 filing cohort and the separately reviewed Kurdi and Rockwell cases. This small sample does not measure the judge’s full caseload mix.
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 | 60 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 10 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 58 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 60 | 58 |
| Sep 2025 | 78 | 66 |
| Mar 2025 | 72 | 71 |
| Sep 2024 | 86 | 92 |
| Mar 2024 | 112 | 91 |
| Sep 2023 | 89 | 77 |
| Mar 2023 | 74 | 68 |
| Sep 2022 | 74 | 40 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 32 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 3 |
| Sep 2020 | 1 | 3 |
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 Thurston: 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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