Kelly K.E. Mahoney
How Judge Mahoney decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a Bail Reform Act detention question, ordered a defendant released on conditions and held that the risk of ICE deporting him before trial does not justify pretrial detention; the conflict between prosecuting and deporting is for the Executive Branch agencies to resolve, not the court. (Her release order quoted verbatim in the district court's de novo review.)
“It is now up to the Government (both the [USAO] and ICE) to determine whether it is more important to prosecute Villatoro-Ventura for illegal reentry (after which they can resume removal proceedings), or expeditiously remove him from the country and risk dismissal of the indictment.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
Representative of Mahoney's published-order footprint, which consists largely of felony guilty-plea reports and recommendations. She took the defendant's guilty plea on September 4, 2024, and recommended that the district court accept it. With no objections, Judge Strand reviewed for clear error and adopted the recommendation without modification. This non-adversarial plea recommendation was not a contested merits ruling. R&R quote: 'On September 4, 2024, Judge Mahoney filed a Report and Recommendation (R&R) in which she recommended that defendant's guilty plea be accepted. Doc. 20.' Adoption quote: 'I hereby accept the R&R without modification and accept defendant's plea of guilty in this case as to Count 1 of the indictment.'
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 182 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 63 days (N = 28).
Dozens of Mahoney-assigned civil dockets identified spanning 2010-2026 (consent 636(c) docket; not exhaustive). 16 read in full for this record, across every era: Kohl, Juergens, Albertson, O'Connell, Walz v. Randall, Brandes v. Waterloo, Beckett v. Unknown Police Officer (2014-2021); Conway v. Dubuque County, Carlson v. Cook, National Mutual Insurance v. Kobusch, Christensen (both dockets), Rigdon v. Menard, Wachowiak v. Experian (2022-2024); Thede-Turnmeyer, Wood, Forquer v. SSA (2023-2025). Mix: Social Security appeals, personal injury & product liability, civil rights (Sec. 1983 and disability/employment), insurance-coverage disputes, and consumer/commercial matters -- the typical consent-magistrate civil portfolio.
Put Judge Mahoney's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Mahoney actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Mahoney's own signed orders and cites them.