Midori A. Lowry
How Judge Lowry rules, drawn from 13 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Lowry
Midori A. Lowry was appointed a part-time U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District of Florida in November 2022. Based in Gainesville, she handles matters referred by the district court.
Judge Lowry's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Lowry'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 Lowry decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Tolbert v. Pistro, Lowry recommended granting a motion to dismiss a repeat Section 2241 challenge to a prison sentence calculation. She found the claims successive or an abuse of the writ because they had been, or could have been, raised earlier.
“The claims Petitioner raises therein are either successive or an abuse of the writ for his failure to raise them previously, and Petitioner has not shown that he has suffered an 'unconstitutional loss of liberty.'”
In United States v. Roscoe, she recommended denying Section 2255 relief without an evidentiary hearing after finding that the motion and record conclusively showed no entitlement to relief.
“An evidentiary hearing is not necessary to resolve Roscoe’s claims because ‘the motion and files and records conclusively show that the prisoner is entitled to no relief.’”
Procedural preferences
In Goldberg v. Pistro, she recommended dismissing an unexhausted Section 2241 sentence-credit claim after the petitioner failed to pursue a Central Office appeal. She rejected his argument that further appeals would be futile because they would receive the same response.
“Because Petitioner has not yet pursued a central office appeal, he has not exhausted his administrative remedies. Petitioner's belief that exhaustion is futile because he would get the same response 'all the way up the ladder' is not a valid argument for excusing his failure to exhaust.”
In Ronald Goldberg v. Warden Kevin Pistro, Lowry cautioned that filing an 'emergency' motion diverts the court from substantive review and explained that cases are typically ruled on in the order they become ripe.
“Cases are typically ruled upon in the order in which they become ripe, and the filing of 'emergency' motions diverts the Court's time and attention from the task of substantive review of this and other cases.”
Cautions
In Hoehn v. Warden FCI Marianna, she recommended denying a Section 2241 petition seeking home confinement. She concluded that neither Section 3624(c)(2) nor the CARES Act authorized the court to order home confinement.
“Neither § 3624(c)(2) nor the CARES Act provides the judiciary any authority to grant an inmate home confinement.”
In Myers v. Warden, F.C.I. Marianna, she recommended dismissing a Section 2241 petition without prejudice as moot after prison records showed that the petitioner had been released before the requested date.
“BOP records confirm Petitioner was released five months ahead of this date, on April 28, 2023. Thus, her request for relief appears to be moot.”
On a Section 2255 claim that counsel ignored an appeal request, she held an evidentiary hearing and recommended denial after finding that the defendant had not proved he or his mother asked counsel to file a notice of appeal.
“Mr. Butler has failed to prove that he, or his mother acting on his behalf, asked Mr. DeBelder to file a notice of appeal.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Respondent's 'Motion to Dismiss Amended 28 U.S.C. § 2241 Petition (Doc. 5) as Successive in Violation of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(a), and in the Alternative, as an Abuse of Writ' (Doc. 8) be GRANTED.”
“Respondent's Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies (ECF No. 13) be GRANTED and Ground One of the Habeas Petition (ECF No. 11) be DISMISSED.”
“Petitioner's Petition for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 15) and Emergency Motion for Immediate Release from Prison (ECF No. 25) be DENIED as moot in light of the foregoing.”
“Respondent's Motion to Dismiss Petitioner's amended petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (ECF No. 12) be DENIED as moot and the amended petition for writ of habeas corpus be DISMISSED without prejudice.”
“Respondent's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 8) be DENIED as moot.”
“The amended petition for writ of habeas corpus (ECF No. 7) be dismissed as moot.”
“The petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 2) be dismissed as moot.”
After the pro se petitioner failed to pay the filing fee or file an amended 28 U.S.C. 2241 petition despite an order to show cause, Lowry recommended sua sponte dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to comply with court orders.
A 28 U.S.C. 2241 petition seeking halfway-house placement was mooted by the petitioner's First Step Act release. After he failed to respond to a mootness show-cause order and the court's mail was returned undeliverable, Lowry recommended sua sponte dismissal without prejudice under Rule 41(b).
“Hoehn’s petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, ECF No. 2, be DENIED.”
“Hoehn’s Motion to Compel Magistrate Judge Midori A. Lowry to Take Action (ECF No 10) is DENIED as moot.”
“Based on the foregoing, it is respectfully RECOMMENDED: 1. The motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence, as supplemented ECF Nos. 92, 102, 103, be DENIED. 2. A certificate of appealability be DENIED.”
“Gonzalez-Carmona’s petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (ECF No. 2) be DENIED as it is without merit. Alternatively, the petition is subject to dismissal for her failure to exhaust her administrative remedies.”
“The motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence, ECF No. 52, be DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Her assigned magistrate docket in the Gainesville Division is criminal-duty work: search-warrant applications, petty-offense and misdemeanor cases, and initial criminal proceedings such as complaints and arraignments.
- No civil cases appear in her assigned caseload; her civil reasoning work comes as referral § 2241 habeas reports and recommendations from federal inmates (the written-order analysis above).
- Because these assigned matters are short-lived criminal proceedings, no civil case durations or motion-to-ruling latencies are computed here.
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 |
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 Lowry: 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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