Charles J. Kahn, Jr.
How Judge Kahn rules, drawn from 8 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Kahn
Charles J. Kahn Jr. serves as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola. Before joining the federal bench in 2011, he served on Florida’s First District Court of Appeal.
Judge Kahn's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Kahn's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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 Kahn decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
In Lewis v. Secretary, Department of Corrections, Kahn recommended dismissing a Section 2254 petition for lack of jurisdiction because it was a second or successive application filed without authorization from the court of appeals.
“the petition is an unauthorized ‘second or successive’ habeas corpus application under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A); that petitioner failed to obtain the requisite authorization before filing this petition; and that this case should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
In Roberts v. Turner, Kahn recommended dismissing the pro se civil-rights complaint without prejudice after finding that its deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. He cited the Eleventh Circuit rule requiring an opportunity to amend when a more carefully drafted complaint might state a claim.
“Generally, ‘a district court must grant a plaintiff at least one opportunity to amend their claims before dismissing them if it appears a more carefully drafted complaint might state a claim upon which relief can be granted even if the plaintiff never seeks leave to amend.’”
In Eaton v. Bank of New York Mellon, Kahn recommended granting the defendant's statutory fee request. Although the underlying action had been dismissed without prejudice, he found the defendant was the prevailing party because the plaintiffs could not refile successfully; he rejected a separate contractual-fee theory.
“despite the dismissal without prejudice, I have found that BoNYM is the prevailing party because Eaton could not refile successfully.”
Cautions
In Rodriguez v. Unknown Medical Staff, Kahn recommended dismissing claims against two defendants without prejudice for failure to state a claim while directing service on the remaining medical-provider defendant.
“It appears that service on the third defendant, unknown medical staff at Centurion Health Care Provider (‘Centurion’), is appropriate.”
In Odom v. Florida Department of Corrections, Kahn recommended dismissing the prisoner’s third amended complaint with prejudice after finding no plausible claim under the ADA or the First, Eighth, or Fourteenth Amendments. He found the retaliation claim speculative on causation.
“Here, plaintiff’s retaliation claim fails on the element of causation.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“That respondent's motion to dismiss (doc. 15) be GRANTED. That the petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 1) ... be DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction, as an unauthorized second or successive habeas corpus application.”
“That respondent's motion to dismiss (doc. 16) be GRANTED. That the amended petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 6) be DISMISSED as moot.”
“That respondent's motion to dismiss (doc. 16) be GRANTED. That the petition for writ of habeas corpus (doc. 1) ... be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”
“That this case be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) due to plaintiff's failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted.”
“That plaintiff's claims against Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and Julie Jones be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B) for plaintiff's failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. That the clerk of court be directed to update the docket to reflect the sole remaining defendant, Unknown Medical Staff at Centurion Health Care Provider.”
“That this case be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii), for plaintiff's failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.”
A Rule 11 Report and Recommendation concerning a guilty plea rather than a party motion. After a plea colloquy, Kahn found the defendant's plea to a thirty-seven-count indictment knowing and voluntary with an independent factual basis, and recommended that the plea be accepted and the defendant adjudicated guilty. Grounding quote in notes.
“That the court GRANT Defendant ‘BoNYM’s Motion for Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees’ (ECF No. 46), for the reasons set out herein.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- From 2011 through 2018, Judge Kahn's assigned civil docket was dominated by consent Social Security disability appeals, with additional ADA, employment, prisoner civil-rights, wage, copyright, contract, and property disputes.
- Among thirty reviewed cases, durations ranged from 72 to 1,219 days with a median near 278 days.
- Social Security appeals clustered more tightly, while prisoner civil-rights matters produced the longest cases, including one consent jury trial.
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 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 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.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, not for Judge Kahn: 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 | 148,428 | 47.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 30 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 148,385 | 47.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 4 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 148,428 | 47.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 140,479 | 43.4 months |
| Sep 2023 | 36,307 | 27.8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 57,845 | 21.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 14,972 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2020 | 6,038 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,148 | 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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