John Wheadon deGravelles

How Judge deGravelles rules, drawn from 37 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
Position
district
Appointed by
Barack Obama (Democratic)
Commissioned
2014-07-23
Education
Louisiana State University, B.A., 1971; Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D., 1974 (Order of the Coif)
Signed orders read
37

How Judge deGravelles decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In an as-applied First Amendment challenge to professional-title restrictions, he focused on whether the challenged wording was accurate rather than inherently misleading and tailored preliminary relief to the speakers' actual licenses, training, and ethical limits.

“Given the foregoing, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the argument that Plaintiffs’ accurate use of terms like ‘psychology,’ ‘psychological,’ and ‘psychologist’ is not inherently misleading.”

Procedural preferences

In a derivative business dispute, he denied a jurisdictional dismissal motion because jurisdiction was intertwined with the merits and factual disputes required further discovery.

“At a minimum, the Court’s subject matter jurisdiction is so bound up with the merits of Plaintiff’s CFAA claim that application of the Rule 12(b)(1) standard would be improper.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Steven Paul Burns v. East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Emergency Medical Services, et al.
3:14-cv-00245-JWD-EWD · 2017-09-21
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (R. Doc. 183) be denied and that the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendant Linda Ottesen (R. Doc. 154) be granted, dismissing Plaintiff's claims asserted against Defendant Ottesen, with prejudice, and that this action be dismissed.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Motion for Summary Judgment of Defendant Linda Ottesen (R. Doc. 154) be granted, dismissing Plaintiff's claims asserted against Defendant Ottesen, with prejudice, and that this action be dismissed.”

Donny L. Stroman v. Jason Ard, et al.
3:14-cv-00649-JWD-EWD · 2016-10-04
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“This matter is before the court on Defendant Anthony Aguillard's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 50). The motion is not opposed. The Court has carefully reviewed the motion and attached memorandum and finds it to be meritorious. For reasons articulated in Defendants' motion and memorandum, the motion is granted and Plaintiff's claim against Anthony Aguillard is dismissed with prejudice.”

Yolanda Jones v. Jashard M. Hall, et al. (Schneider National Carriers / Old Republic Ins.)
3:19-cv-00354-JWD-EWD · 2020-12-03
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc.26) is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's claims against Defendants, Schneider National Carriers, Inc. and Old Republic Insurance Company, are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, at Plaintiff's cost.”

Denise Ray v. Andrew M. Saul, Commissioner of Social Security
3:20-cv-00237-JWD-RLB · 2022-03-02
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 17) is DENIED, the decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED, and Plaintiff's appeal is DISMISSED with prejudice.”

John Edward Childers, et al. v. State of Louisiana (DPS&C, Office of State Police)
3:21-cv-00089-JWD-EWD · 2025-06-03
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 92) is GRANTED. The parties conceded that Plaintiffs were each able to show a prima facie case of discrimination, but Defendant presented a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for not promoting each of the Plaintiffs, and Plaintiffs were each unable to carry their summary judgment burden to show pretext. ... As a result, Plaintiffs' claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Anthony Johnson v. La. Dept. of Public Safety & Corrections, et al.
3:21-cv-00595-JWD-RLB · 2024-03-26
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“IT IS ORDERED that the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 15) is granted, in part dismissing the plaintiff's claims for violations of prison rules and compensatory damages. The Court declines the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction in connection with Plaintiff's potential state law claims.”

Anthony Johnson v. Louisiana Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections, et al.
3:21-cv-00595-JWD-RLB · 2024-11-13
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 78) is GRANTED, in part, and that the plaintiff's claims against defendant Arnold are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, in all other regards, the Motion (Doc. 78) is DENIED and that this matter is referred back to the Magistrate Judge for further proceedings herein.”

Quvadias Ruffin v. Eric Turner, et al.
3:22-cv-00002-JWD-SDJ · 2022-11-29
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 19) is granted, dismissing all of Plaintiff’s claims against all Defendants. ... this action shall be dismissed with prejudice.”

Raymond Kimble, III v. Hillar C. Moore, III, et al.
3:20-cv-00708-JWD-RLB · 2021-12-31
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that the defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 61) is granted, dismissing the plaintiff’s claims against defendant Victor J. Woods, Jr. with prejudice.”

Haymarket-Galeria, LLC, et al. v. Associated Industries Insurance Company, Inc., et al.
3:22-cv-00939-JWD-SDJ · 2025-02-25
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 37) is GRANTED, dismissing this action as to Independent Specialty Insurance and Lloyd’s, and furthermore that the entire consolidated action is DISMISSED without prejudice.”

Will J. Belton v. Regions Bank NA, et al.
3:24-cv-00722-JWD-RLB · 2025-08-26
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“IT IS ORDERED that Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(5) and 2(b)(6) (Doc. 16, 17) are GRANTED, and Plaintiff’s federal claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state law claims and that those claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Jennifer Miranda v. David Alexander, et al.
3:21-cv-00535-JWD-RLB · 2022-03-18
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, Motion to Strike, and Motion for Attorney’s Fees (Doc. 19) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and that Plaintiff’s federal claims are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, and Plaintiff’s state law claims are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

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