Harold Albert Baker
How Judge Baker rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Baker no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Baker
Harold Albert Baker was a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, Judge Baker was commissioned to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois on September 23, 1978 and reassigned to this court on March 31, 1979. Judge Baker assumed senior status on October 4, 1994 and retired on January 2, 2022.
How Judge Baker decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Flo-Con Systems, Inc. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., Baker rejected the pension plan’s reliance on a superseded regulation after later statutory amendments changed the governing rule. He denied the plan summary judgment and granted the agency’s cross-motion.
“Can competent lawyers and accountants engaged in the highly technical task of computing the present cash value of deferred annuities ignore seven year-old relevant amendments to the Code and ERISA and claim estoppel? The question is rhetorical; the answer is ‘No!’”
In Newell’s jail-conditions case, Baker allowed the prisoner’s deliberate-indifference claims to proceed without identifying precisely what each correctional officer did on each day; he left those details for discovery.
“He need not allege precisely what each defendant did on each particular day on which he alleges a different instance of deliberate indifference. What any one officer did or didn't do, and when, will be fleshed out in discovery.”
Procedural preferences
In Kibler v. United States, Baker deemed the plaintiffs’ unsupported denials of numbered summary judgment facts admitted under the local rule, then granted the government’s motion on immunity grounds.
“Plaintiffs' flat denials, without reference to supporting materials, have no standing under the local rule. ... those facts must be deemed admitted.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (# 16) is denied, and the defendant's motion for summary judgment (# 20) is allowed.”
“the defendant's motion for summary judgment (# 20) is allowed. ... The Clerk of the Court is to enter judgment and costs of suit in favor of the defendant-third party plaintiff, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation”
“the court grants the defendants' motion to dismiss (# 15), as well as the plaintiff's motion to strike the defendants' reply (# 23). The plaintiff's complaint is therefore dismissed with prejudice. This case is terminated.”
“the court denies the petition for a writ of habeas corpus with respect to the guilt-innocence phase of the trial, but grants the writ with respect to the death sentence subject to the conditions discussed below.”
“The defendant's motion for summary judgment [23] is granted. This case is terminated. The parties shall bear their own costs.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the motion to dismiss [20] is denied in its entirety. The defendants shall file their answer within fourteen days of the date of this order.”
“For the following reasons, Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (# 36) is GRANTED.”
“Defendant Harmon's motion for summary judgement is granted pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. [d/e 38] The clerk of the court is directed to enter judgment in favor of the Defendant Harmon in accordance with this order.”
“Defendants Shaw, Stegal and Walker's motion for summary judgement is granted in part and denied in part, [d/e 40]. All claims against Defendant Walker are dismissed.”
“the renewed motion under Rule 50 for judgment as a matter of law is allowed.”
“Before the court is the defendants' motion for summary judgment [d/e 53], which is granted for the reasons below.”
“(2) The plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (docket # 49) is granted in part as to the issue of liability.”
“(1) The defendants' motion for summary judgment (docket # 53) is denied.”
“The defendants have moved for summary judgment as to Counts I and II, the federal law claims. The court now denies summary judgment.”
“plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (Docket # 11) is GRANTED.”
“defendant’s motion for summary judgment (Docket #20) is DENIED,”
“motion for reconsideration (Docket # 2Q) is DENIED as moot.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 1911 days (N = 18).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 22 days (N = 7).
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Baker was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2021.
| Motions pending more than six months | 33 |
| 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 | 25 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | 33 | 25 |
| Mar 2021 | 23 | 21 |
| Sep 2020 | 9 | 15 |
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 Baker 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.