Marcia Smith Krieger
How Judge Krieger rules, drawn from 23 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Krieger
Marcia S. Krieger is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Krieger received a commission on January 30, 2002. Judge Krieger assumed senior status on March 3, 2019.
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 Krieger decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a prisoner medical care case, she granted summary judgment to a nurse practitioner after finding that the injury assessment and symptoms did not support an inference that the practitioner consciously disregarded a serious risk.
“no reasonable jury could find that NP Christner knew of and disregarded a substantial risk of serious harm.”
Procedural preferences
In an FLSA case, she dismissed an opt-in plaintiff’s claims with prejudice after that plaintiff knowingly refused discovery and left the defendant unable to identify the scope of her claims.
“Hall’s conscious refusal to participate in the prosecution of her claims, the only effective sanction is dismissal.”
Cautions
In an employment discrimination suit filed eight minutes after the statutory deadline, she dismissed the claims because counsel’s filing difficulty did not establish extraordinary circumstances for equitable tolling.
“in the absence of a showing of extraordinary circumstances beyond her (or her counsel’s) control, there is no difference in result between initiation of an action 8 minutes or 8 months late.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court finds that the Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on all of Ms. Smith's claims in this action. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment in favor of the Defendants on all claims and close this case.”
“Defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC's Motion to Dismiss (#25) is GRANTED. All claims in this action are DISMISSED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Sorin's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 69) is DENIED.”
“the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (#27) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Plaintiffs' claims under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 are deemed voluntarily withdrawn, and the Plaintiff's claim under 42 U.S.C. Section 1981 is dismissed with prejudice.”
“Schwab's Motion to Dismiss (# 13) is GRANTED, and Ms. Ley's claims in this action are DISMISSED as untimely. The Clerk of the Court shall close this case.”
“the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 91) is DENIED and the Defendant's Motion to Strike (# 105) is DENIED AS MOOT.”
“the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (#71) is GRANTED as set out above. Judgment shall issue in favor of Defendant, and Defendant shall have its costs ... The Clerk shall close this case.”
“ORDERED that the Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2254, ECF No. 1, is denied and the case is dismissed with prejudice. It is further ORDERED that there is no basis on which to issue a certificate of appealability pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2253(c).”
“Sandoz's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 47) is DENIED.”
“Progressive's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 58) is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment in favor of Progressive on all claims and thereafter close this case.”
“Mr. Mohn's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 51) ... [is] DENIED.”
“the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 149) is GRANTED. Judgment shall issue in favor of the Defendant.”
“the Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (# 45) is GRANTED IN PART. The Plaintiff's claim for excessive force based on the manner of handcuffing is DISMISSED. The Motion is DENIED in all other respects.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Small, non-representative sample. A representative civil-duration distribution would require a broader terminated-civil sample.
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 | 3 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 6 |
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 Krieger: 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).
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