Roger T. Benitez
How Judge Benitez rules, drawn from 14 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Benitez no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Benitez
Roger T. Benitez was a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Benitez received a commission on June 21, 2004. Judge Benitez assumed senior status on December 31, 2017 and retired on April 2, 2026.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“summary judgment is DENIED as to defendants Tanacio, West, and the County of San Diego. Summary judgment is GRANTED in favor of defendant Goldstein on all claims.”
“The Motion to Dismiss filed September 4, 2019 (Dkt. No. 6) is hereby GRANTED. The Complaint and all other pending motions (Dkt. Nos. 8 and 13) are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Joint Motion (ECF No. 37) is hereby GRANTED as follows: 1. Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant Vista Verde's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 21) is deemed WITHDRAWN.”
“the Court GRANTS the Government's Motion to Dismiss and DISMISSES the Complaint in its entirety, with prejudice.”
“California Penal Code Sec. 32310, as amended by Proposition 63, is hereby declared to be unconstitutional in its entirety and shall be enjoined. ... Defendant Attorney General Rob Bonta ... [is] enjoined from enforcing California Penal Code Sec. 32310. ... This injunction is stayed for ten (10) days from the date of this Order.”
“6. Bain's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' negligent training and supervision claim is GRANTED. 7. Bain's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' CCPA claim is GRANTED. ... [all other grounds] DENIED.”
“All motions to dismiss are denied. IT IS SO ORDERED.”
“ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART THE JOINT MOTION (1) TO DISMISS CERTAIN CLAIMS, (2) FOR A CONSENT JUDGMENT, (3) TO CERTIFY FINAL JUDGMENT UNDER RULE 54(b) ... and (4) TO STAY PROCEEDINGS. ... Because the Court dismisses the State Law Claims without prejudice, it DENIES the Parties' Joint Motion for a Stay.”
“the Court (1) DENIES Plaintiff's Motion to Remand as moot and (2) dismisses this case with prejudice. ... In light of the dismissal, Plaintiff's Motion to Remand is DENIED as moot.”
“Therefore, this Court declares the California statutes to be unconstitutional. ... [Defendant Attorney General] ... are enjoined from implementing or enforcing the California Penal Code Sections 30515(a)(1) through (8) ... and the penalty provisions 30600, 30605 and 30800 as applied to 'assault weapons' defined in Code Sections 30515(a)(1) through (8).”
“ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ... [Defendant Attorney General] ... are enjoined from implementing or enforcing the ammunition sales background check provisions found in California Penal Code Sections 30370(a) through (d) and 30352, and the ammunition anti-importation provisions found in 30312(a) and (b), and 30314(a)...”
“Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is denied and Defendants' cross motion for summary judgment is granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 202 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 217 days (N = 3).
The sampled late-2023 civil matters include removed diversity and consumer cases, civil-rights suits, Social Security appeals, securities and trade-secret disputes, and religious-freedom claims. One sampled matter, Manos v. Sanofi, ended after notice of settlement and dismissal.
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 | 0 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 2 | 1 |
| Sep 2020 | 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.
A historical record
Judge Benitez 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.