John Lawrence Kane Jr.
How Judge Kane rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kane
John L. Kane, Jr. is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, Judge Kane received a commission on December 16, 1977. Judge Kane assumed senior status on April 8, 1988.
Judge Kane's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Kane, 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
Filing
If generative AI helped prepare a filing, identify the portion and certify human review and real citations.
“the preparer of the filing shall include a certification identifying the portion of the filing that was prepared with the use of GenAI”
Filing
Email proposed orders in editable Word format and identify the case and underlying motion.
“All proposed orders should be emailed to [email protected] in editable Word format.”
Motions
Confer in good faith before filing any paper that seeks relief.
“Before filing any motion, status report, statement, or other paper that includes a request for relief, the filing party shall have conferred or made a reasonable, good-faith effort to confer with opposing counsel”
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 Kane decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Arciniega v. Medicredit, Kane denied the collector’s summary judgment motion after finding that the consumer’s phone statements about owing less than the reported debt could communicate a dispute. The order relied on a Tenth Circuit decision rejecting summary judgment on a comparable communication question.
“Medicredit’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 35) is DENIED.”
In St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, he found the state's positions on a religious-provider preference inconsistent in that Free Exercise challenge.
“Defendants cannot have it both ways, though. They cannot contend that the congregation preference does not apply to conduct that is necessarily religious, see id. at 47, while also arguing that the preference ‘is available only to religious providers,’ see id. at 49.”
Procedural preferences
In Derosier v. Balltrip, he denied dismissal of the first three claims but dismissed the Town of Johnstown on the fourth and fifth claims.
“Defendants' Motion (Doc. 10) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. ... DENIED as to Plaintiff's First, Second, and Third Claims for Relief ... and GRANTED as to the Town of Johnston on Plaintiff's Fourth and Fifth Claims for Relief. ... The Town of Johnston is DISMISSED as a defendant in this action.”
Cautions
In Baker v. Wells Fargo, he denied the plaintiff's motion to vacate after reviewing the earlier rulings entered by a judge who had recused.
“Mr. Baker's Motion to Vacate (ECF No. 57) is DENIED.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Medicredit’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 35) is DENIED.”
“Defendants' Motion (Doc. 10) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. ... DENIED as to Plaintiff's First, Second, and Third Claims for Relief ... and GRANTED as to the Town of Johnston on Plaintiff's Fourth and Fifth Claims for Relief. ... The Town of Johnston is DISMISSED as a defendant in this action.”
“Defendants' Motion to Stay (Doc. 11) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“Mr. Baker's Motion to Vacate (ECF No. 57) is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, Plaintiffs have failed to show the applicable factors weigh in favor of preliminarily enjoining enforcement of the Waiting-Period Act. Their Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 2) is, therefore, DENIED.”
“Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 38) is GRANTED IN PART in that the Archdiocese of Denver is DISMISSED as a party to this case.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED (ECF No. 61).”
“The imminent trial obviates the need for the preliminary injunction, and thus that alternative request is likewise denied.”
“And Plaintiffs’ Motion to Exclude Defendants’ Expert Witness Testimony (ECF No. 73) is DENIED as indicated above.”
Following a bench trial, Kane entered judgment for the plaintiffs only on the religious-affiliation aspect of their Free Exercise claim, issued a limited permanent injunction, and awarded nominal damages. He entered judgment for the state defendants on all remaining issues and claims. This substantive trial judgment is retained for its reasoning but excluded from motion statistics.
After a bench trial, Kane upheld Colorado's individual campaign-contribution limits and voluntary spending-limit system against First Amendment challenges, entering judgment for the state officials. The judgment is retained for its substantive reasoning but excluded from motion statistics.
“Defendant Sullivan’s Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 86, contains no basis in law or fact and is accordingly DENIED.”
“Because the proposed motion is significantly past the dispositive motion deadline in this case of October 16, 2013, is untimely and disruptive of trial preparation, and is unjustifiably redundant of matters already ruled on (see Docs. 25 & 40), that motion is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion in Limine Regarding the Effect of At-Will Employment (Doc. 59) is DENIED.”
“The motion is GRANTED. This case is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.”
“Plaintiffs' Request (Motion) for (Expedited) Decision (Doc. 42) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration (Doc. 29) is DENIED”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike the Motion for Reconsideration (Doc. 31) and Motion to Stay Plaintiffs’ Response Deadline (Doc. 32) are DENIED AS MOOT.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Recent recency windows are criminal/immigration- and SSA-appeal-heavy; the seven contested civil durations sampled here (159-1264 days) skew long because they were chosen for being litigated. Most of these settled at magistrate-judge mediation. Illustrative, not a duration distribution.
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 | 18 |
| 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 | 22 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 18 | 22 |
| Sep 2025 | 14 | 20 |
| Mar 2025 | 19 | 21 |
| Sep 2024 | 9 | 20 |
| Mar 2024 | 9 | 21 |
| Sep 2023 | 1 | 7 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 6 |
| Sep 2022 | 7 | 11 |
| Mar 2022 | 17 | 15 |
| Sep 2021 | 34 | 13 |
| Mar 2021 | 32 | 9 |
| Sep 2020 | 17 | 8 |
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 District of Colorado, not for Judge Kane: 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 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 497 | 7.6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,076 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 63 | 26.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 33 | 39.3 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,669 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,704 | 7.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,560 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,614 | 9 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,637 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,637 | 7.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,577 | 7.5 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 Kane with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Kane, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Kane's own signed orders
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace