Stephan Pierre Mickle
How Judge Mickle rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Mickle no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Mickle
Stephan P. Mickle was a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Mickle received a commission on May 22, 1998. Judge Mickle assumed senior status on June 22, 2011 and served until death on January 26, 2021.
How Judge Mickle decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Faulkner Press v. Class Notes, Mickle held that copyright protected the selection and arrangement of factual course materials but did not extend to the underlying facts. He described the compilation copyright as thin and left disputed fair-use issues for a jury.
“Copyright protection extends only to the selection and arrangement, not to the underlying facts themselves, and ‘[t]his inevitably means that the copyright in a factual compilation is thin.’ Feist. 499 U.S. at 349.”
In Forward v. RTI Biologics, Mickle denied the plaintiff’s partial summary-judgment motion. Because she bore the burden of proof at trial, he required her to show that no reasonable jury could find for the defendant when the evidence and reasonable inferences were viewed in its favor.
“To show that she is entitled to summary judgment, Forward must show that no reasonable jury could find in favor of RTI, even when all justifiable inferences and reasonable doubts about the facts are drawn in favor of RTI.”
In Hines v. Paris Enterprises, Mickle granted the defendant summary judgment after it showed that the plaintiff had named the wrong employer. The plaintiff's affidavit stating only that he believed he worked for Paris did not supply competent evidence of his employer's identity.
“This affidavit is not sufficient to discharge Plaintiff's burden because Plaintiff is still uncertain about the identity of his employer and presents no competent evidence on the issue.”
Procedural preferences
In Schlicher v. Murphy, Mickle adopted a recommendation to dismiss a prisoner civil-rights complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. He rejected the plaintiff’s excuses for not completing the grievance process, including the claimed lack of forms, where a late grievance for good cause remained available.
“none of Plaintiff's excuses for failing to exhaust his administrative remedies can overcome his statutory obligation to do so in order to pursue his case in court.”
In Curley Antonio Edler v. J.K. Schwarz, Mickle granted the plaintiff's post-recommendation voluntary-dismissal motions only as to claims the magistrate judge's adverse recommendation had not resolved; he granted summary judgment to the defendants on the other claims.
“Plaintiff's motions for voluntary dismissal, which were filed after the report and recommendation was issued, will be granted as to the remaining claims only. See Davis v. Huskipower Outdoor Equip. Corp., 936 F.2d 193, 199 (5th Cir. 1991) (voluntary dismissal is properly denied when sought after magistrate judge issues adverse recommendation).”
Cautions
A voluntary dismissal to forum-shop into state court can cost the plaintiff the claim: where a pro se plaintiff moved to dismiss so he could refile in state circuit court, Mickle granted the motion but dismissed WITH prejudice, pointing him to simply file in the county court instead. Do not treat a federal voluntary dismissal as a free pass to start over elsewhere.
“Plaintiff's motion to voluntarily dismiss this case (doc. 12) is hereby granted. This case is dismissed with prejudice.”
In Delton Hines v. Paris Enterprises, Mickle denied a Section 1927 fee request because opposing counsel's failure to reveal the correct employer's identity did not amount to the bad faith required for sanctions.
“The conduct of Paris's counsel in failing to reveal the identity of the employer does not rise to the level of bad faith as required by the statute and by case law.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Faulkner Press's motion for partial summary judgment (doc. 162) is denied.”
“Class Notes' and Thomas G. Bean's motion for partial summary judgment (doc. 160) is granted as to Counts Five, Six, Seven, and the part of Count Three that alleges infringement of the sound recordings.”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (doc. 16) is denied.”
“Defendant Engram's motion for summary judgment (doc. 95) is treated as a motion to dismiss and granted. Plaintiff's claims against Defendant Engram are dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.”
“The motion for summary judgment (doc. 111) filed by Defendants Salvador and Solorzano-Pallais is granted. The clerk shall enter judgment for Defendants Salvador and Solorzano-Pallais on all claims.”
“The Motion to Dismiss (doc. 51) is granted, and Plaintiff's Amended Complaint is dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1997(e).”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss (doc. 30) is granted. This case is dismissed without prejudice for Plaintiff's abuse of the judicial process and 28 U.S.C. 1915A.”
“Based on the facts presented, a reasonable jury could not find for the Plaintiff because it is clear that Defendant is not the proper party in this suit and Plaintiff has not come forward with sufficient evidence of a genuine issue on this matter.”
“The conduct of Paris's counsel in failing to reveal the identity of the employer does not rise to the level of bad faith as required by the statute and by case law.”
“The motion for summary judgment filed by Defendants Hall, Wellhausen, and Coffey (doc. 102) is granted. Defendants Hall, Wellhausen, and Coffey are dismissed from this case.”
“Plaintiff's motions for voluntary dismissal (docs. 166, 169, and 173) are granted as to the remaining claims. ... the clerk shall ... dismiss all remaining claims without prejudice.”
“Defendants' motion for summary judgment (doc. 22) is granted. The clerk shall enter judgment in Defendants' favor and close this case.”
“Defendant's motion for summary judgment (doc. 13) is granted. The Clerk shall enter judgment in Plaintiff's favor in the total amount of $17,352.44.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Conviction on Count Two (doc. 53) is DENIED.”
“The Defendant's motion for remand (doc. 13) is granted. The Commissioner's decision to deny benefits is reversed. This case is remanded to the Commissioner of Social Security pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. 405(g).”
“Plaintiff's motion to voluntarily dismiss this case (doc. 12) is hereby granted. This case is dismissed with prejudice.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 262.5 days (N = 20).
- 2006 filing-window cohort (20 terminated civil cases) shows a classic N.D.
- Fla. district docket: heavy prisoner litigation, state habeas (28:2254), motions to vacate sentence (28:2255), and prisoner 1983 civil rights, alongside employment discrimination (Title VII jobs, removed from state court), ERISA, FTCA, an IDEA / disabled-child case, and diversity personal-injury and insurance removals.
- Referral magistrates surfaced: William C.
- Sherrill, Jr., Allan Kornblum, G.
- Miles Davis, Elizabeth M. Timothy, and (on an older 1996 docket) Susan M.
- Novotny.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Mickle was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
A historical record
Judge Mickle no longer hears cases. 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.