Kelly K.E. Mahoney
How Judge Mahoney rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
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.”
When an administrative law judge finds medical opinions persuasive, the judge expects the resulting work-capacity assessment either to include those opinions' concrete task limits or to explain why they were omitted.
“The purpose of this regulation would be undermined if the ALJ could state a medical opinion was persuasive, well-supported, and consistent with the record, without adopting the limitations contained in that opinion or otherwise addressing them.”
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.'
“Pursuant to the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 37), Negrete-Vaca’s motion (Doc. 23) to dismiss the indictment is granted and the indictment (Doc. 17) is hereby dismissed.”
“I recommend reversing the ALJ’s decision and remanding for further proceedings.”
“I affirm the Commissioner’s decision. Judgment will enter in favor of the Commissioner.”
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).
The sixteen reviewed consent-jurisdiction cases span Social Security appeals, personal-injury and product-liability disputes, civil-rights and employment claims, insurance coverage, and consumer or commercial matters. They cover filings from 2014 through 2025 and do not represent the full civil docket.
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Mahoney, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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