Steve CarMichael Jones
How Judge Jones rules, drawn from 17 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Jones
Steve CarMichael Jones is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Jones received a commission on March 3, 2011. Judge Jones assumed senior status on January 1, 2025.
Judge Jones's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Jones, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Court Instructions ↗
- Civil Jury Qualifying Questions ↗
- Criminal Jury Qualifying Questions ↗
- Jury Questionnaire ↗
Key rules
Motions
File motions in limine fourteen days before trial; responses are due seven days before trial.
“Motions in limine shall be filed with the Clerk no later than fourteen (14) calendar days before the date of trial. Responses to motions in limine shall be filed with the Clerk no later than seven (7) calendar days before the date of trial.”
Motions
Seek a page-limit extension at least five days before the filing deadline.
“Parties seeking an extension of the page limit must do so at least five (5) days in advance of their filing deadline”
Discovery
After conferring, contact the courtroom deputy before moving to compel, quash, or obtain a protective order.
“Prior to filing a motion to compel discovery, motion to quash, or motion for protective order and only after conferring with opposing counsel in a good faith effort to resolve the discovery dispute by agreement”
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 Jones decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In United States v. Johnson, Jones suppressed the defendant's statements made after officers handcuffed him a second time following a vehicle search. He declined to suppress earlier statements, finding they were made voluntarily before Miranda custody began.
“All statements of Defendant made after the second handcuffing (post-search) are suppressed. The statements occurring prior to such time are not suppressed as the evidence shows that said statements were voluntarily made.”
In True the Vote, Jones expressed concern about the defendants’ voter-challenge practices but found that the plaintiffs had not proved a Section 11(b) violation.
“the Court maintains its prior concerns about the manner Defendants utilized O.C.G.A. § 21-2-230 to challenge individual voters. The Court, however, ultimately concludes that, as a legal matter, Plaintiffs have not carried their burden”
When Georgia law permits modification of an overbroad restrictive covenant, he may narrow the duration rather than reject the covenant outright; in a franchise dispute he reduced a three-year restriction to two years before granting preliminary relief.
“blue-penciling is available to restrict the period to 2 years to render it presumptively reasonable.”
After finding Section 2 violations in three redistricting cases, he gave the state legislature a limited chance to enact compliant maps before the court would fashion a remedy.
“The Court’s injunction affords the State a limited opportunity to enact new plans that comply with the Voting Rights Act by DECEMBER 8, 2023.”
Procedural preferences
On de novo review he may modify or reject part of a magistrate judge's recommendation rather than adopting it wholesale, while independently entering the final motion disposition.
“the R&R, having been REJECTED IN PART (as to the Franks hearing recommendation), is ADOPTED as to the remaining recommendations. Defendant Townsend’s Motion to Suppress (Doc. No. [16]) is DENIED.”
In Briggs v. North Highland Company, Jones directed the parties to identify the company's state of incorporation so he could confirm subject-matter jurisdiction before proceeding.
“in the interest of caution and for purposes of the Court's sua sponte jurisdictional considerations, within TEN DAYS of the entry of this Order, the Parties file a joint factual statement of their contentions about the state in which North Highland Company is incorporated”
In a compassionate-release case, Judge Jones examined whether the defendant had presented the same reason to prison officials before filing in court. He found the COVID-19 reason unexhausted and also evaluated its merits.
“Movant has not sought an administrative remedy related to his COVID-19 concerns.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
A widely-covered 145-page bench-trial verdict: True the Vote's mass challenge to 364,000 voter registrations did not violate Voting Rights Act Section 11(b); judgment for defendants despite the court's stated concerns about their conduct.
“The Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's First Amended Class Action Complaint filed by Defendant North Highland Company (Doc. No. [33]) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The Motion is GRANTED as to the breach of contract claim (Count III of the Amended Complaint) and DENIED on all other grounds and claims.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction is GRANTED.”
“Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion To Quash Or Dismiss Indictment (Doc. No. [15]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment (Doc. No. [36]) is DENIED”
“Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Evidence (Doc. No. [34]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion for Return of Property (Doc. No. [52]) is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Request for Hearing in relation to his Motion (Doc. No. [52]) is DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the R&R, having been REJECTED IN PART (as to the Franks hearing recommendation), is ADOPTED as to the remaining recommendations. Defendant Townsend’s Motion to Suppress (Doc. No. [16]) is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, the Motion to Vacate (Doc. No. [310]) is DISMISSED without prejudice as premature.”
“The Motion to Suppress Evidence (Doc. No. [120]) is DENIED.”
“The Motion to Suppress Statements (Doc. No. [121]) is DENIED IN PART AND GRANTED IN PART. All statements of Defendant made after the second handcuffing (post-search) are suppressed. The statements occurring prior to such time are not suppressed as the evidence shows that said statements were voluntarily made.”
Following trial in three separately filed redistricting cases, the court found Section 2 violations, entered judgment for each plaintiff group, and permanently enjoined use of the challenged 2021 congressional and legislative plans. The Alpha Phi Alpha and Grant groups did not prevail on every challenged district. Earlier summary-judgment motions were decided in separate orders and are not counted here.
“the pending 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate, Doc. No. [14], is DENIED.”
“the pending 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate, Doc. No. [359], is DENIED.”
“his motion for compassionate release, Doc. No. [380], is DENIED.”
“Defendant’s Motion to Bifurcate and to Stay Discovery on the bad-faith claim (Doc. No. [8]) is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 1254 days (N = 2).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 187 days (N = 1).
The mix comes from sampled case records. Administrative case-closure data was unavailable for the reviewed voting-rights matters. Jones's Atlanta and Gainesville docket includes substantial voting-rights and redistricting litigation.
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 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| 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 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta / Gainesville Division), not for Judge Jones: 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 | 6,703 | 4 months |
| Closed with no court action | 640 | 3 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 4,138 | 1.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1,901 | 11.6 months |
| Closed during trial | 24 | 31.4 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 6,703 | 4 months |
| Sep 2024 | 6,190 | 5.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 8,614 | 13.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 5,403 | 5.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 4,908 | 6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 4,463 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 4,954 | 6.2 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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