Thomas Kent Wetherell II
How Judge Wetherell rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Wetherell decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
When a settlement agreement is approved, incorporated into a dismissal order, and backed by retained jurisdiction, he treats breach as violation of a court order and will enforce the agreement as the functional equivalent of a consent decree.
“a breach of the settlement agreement is a violation of a court order—which the Court unquestionably has jurisdiction to address.”
In APA review he scrutinizes whether an agency action exceeds statutory authority and will vacate a policy on a developed trial record: after a 4-day bench trial he held the federal government's 'Parole+ATD' immigration policy unlawful and vacated it under the APA, denying the government's summary-judgment motion.
“The deferred portion of Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 88) is DENIED. The Parole+ATD Policy is VACATED under the APA, and that policy is REMANDED to DHS for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion and Order.”
Procedural preferences
He independently reviews recommendations rather than treating adoption as automatic. In Pohlmann, he accepted the recommended disposition in part but added dismissal of official-capacity Eighth Amendment claims because Section 1983 damages claims against Florida officials in their official capacities are effectively claims against an immune state.
“the Court agrees with the magistrate judge’s recommended disposition of Defendants’ motions to dismiss, except his recommendation that the Eighth Amendment claims against Defendants in their official capacities can proceed.”
Reviews magistrate-judge R&Rs de novo where a party objects and adopts unobjected R&Rs; the sampled dispositive dispositions overwhelmingly issue as R&R-adoption orders (habeas/prisoner/frivolous-pro-se). Manages high-stakes litigation briskly: denied a government stay (pending US v. Texas) and pushed the case to a prompt bench trial.
“The Court reviewed the issues raised in the objection de novo as required by 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3), and based on that review, the Court agrees with the magistrate judge's determination that this case is frivolous and is due to be dismissed.”
Cautions
A prison medical-care claim that survives dismissal may still fail at summary judgment when the undisputed treatment record does not support subjective deliberate indifference. In Pohlmann, he granted both defense motions and dismissed the remaining claims with prejudice after de novo review.
“the undisputed evidence establishes that they were not deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff’s medical condition.”
Strictly enforces the prisoner litigation-history disclosure requirement: a false certification is treated as malicious abuse of process and dismissed, and he will NOT allow a late amendment to cure it once disclosure has been falsified.
“This case is DISMISSED without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) and 1915A(b)(1) for maliciousness and abuse of the judicial process.”
Enforces habeas time-bars and rejects unsupported equitable-tolling: dismissed an untimely 2254 petition with prejudice, finding no record support for a COVID-19 law-library tolling claim, and denied a COA.
“Respondent's motion to dismiss (Doc. 12) is GRANTED; and the untimely petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED with prejudice. A certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
Imposes Rule 11 pre-filing injunctions on serial frivolous filers.
“Defendants' motion for Rule 11 sanctions (Doc. 17) is GRANTED in part, and the Clerk is directed not to accept any future filings from Plaintiff unless he is represented by counsel or he obtains prior leave of court.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant's motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, motion for summary judgment (Doc. 64) is GRANTED.”
“Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 61) is DENIED.”
“Respondents' motion to dismiss, ECF No. 6, as supported by the supplemental Exhibit, ECF No. 9, is GRANTED. This case is DISMISSED as moot since Petitioner is no longer in custody.”
“Respondent's motion to dismiss (Doc. 12) is GRANTED; and the untimely petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED with prejudice. A certificate of appealability is DENIED.”
“Defendants' motion to dismiss (Doc. 18) is GRANTED, and this case is DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Defendants' motion for Rule 11 sanctions (Doc. 17) is GRANTED in part, and the Clerk is directed not to accept any future filings from Plaintiff unless he is represented by counsel or he obtains prior leave of court.”
“This case is DISMISSED without prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to prosecute and/or failure to comply with an order of the court.”
“Plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. 2) is DENIED as moot.”
“This case is DISMISSED without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. 1915(e)(2)(B)(i) and 1915A(b)(1) for maliciousness and abuse of the judicial process.”
“Plaintiff's 'Motion for Clarification and Leave to File an Amended Complaint' (Doc. 34) is DENIED.”
“This case is DISMISSED. Respondent's motion to dismiss (Doc. 12) is DENIED as moot.”
“Defendants’ motions to dismiss (Docs. 11, 20) are GRANTED in part, and the claim for injunctive relief and the official-capacity Eighth Amendment claims in the amended complaint are DISMISSED. The motions are otherwise DENIED, and Plaintiff’s individual-capacity Eighth Amendment claims may proceed.”
“The petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (Doc. 2) is DENIED.”
“Defendants’ motions for summary judgment (Docs. 35, 41) are GRANTED, and the remaining claims in this case are DISMISSED with prejudice.”
“Plaintiffs’ emergency motion to enforce settlement agreement (Doc. 32) is GRANTED, and Defendants shall immediately comply with the court-approved settlement agreement in this case by reinstating Plaintiffs’ access to the bulk-upload and SSN-search features in the SAVE system.”
“LWV and EPIC’s emergency motion to intervene (Doc. 48) is GRANTED, and the Clerk shall update their status in CM/ECF from amici to intervenors.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 233.0 days (N = 16).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 30.5 days (N = 4).
- A 2021 enumeration shows a distinctive Pensacola-division N.D.
- Fla. docket: heavy prisoner civil-rights / prison conditions (42:1983) and habeas (2254 state, 2241 immigration), a notable cluster of admiralty/maritime limitation-of-liability actions ('In the Matter of the Complaint of ...': Gulf Coast boating), property/life/auto/crop insurance (Great Lakes, Unum, Progressive, Hartford, USAA, State Farm, Hudson Crop), diversity contract, RICO, employment (Title VII / FMLA / 42:1981), and high-profile APA/immigration litigation (Florida v. United States).
- Cases are referred to the division's magistrate judges for reports and recommendations.
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