Mildred E. Methvin
How Judge Methvin rules, drawn from 4 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Methvin no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Methvin
Mildred E. Methvin served as a United States magistrate judge for the Western District of Louisiana. The judge held the full-time position in the Lafayette Division from 1983 to 2009.
How Judge Methvin decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Duhon's competency proceeding, Methvin rejected the hospital's competency certification as unreliable and found that he remained incompetent to stand trial.
“the hospital’s certification of competency fails to meet the minimal standards of reliability”
Procedural preferences
In the Barnett and Drake pretrial-detention case, Methvin found that secured bonds and release conditions would reasonably assure both defendants' appearance and community safety.
“The court has the authority to require defendants and their sureties to execute not only an ‘Appearance Bond,’ but an ‘Appearance and Compliance Bond.’”
In Gerac-Ogashi, Methvin recommended dismissing employment claims outside the plaintiff's EEOC charge for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The district judge adopted the recommendation.
“the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to entertain several of plaintiff’s' claims.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the plaintiffs motion for summary judgment is granted and that Denais be awarded appropriate benefits consistent with an onset date of December 9, 1988, the date Dr. Marler diagnosed sarcoidosis and concluded that Denais was disabled due to pulmonary insufficiency.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that plaintiffs following claims are DISMISSED: ... as the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to entertain these claims.”
“After carefully considering the evidence presented at four hearings, I conclude that there are conditions of release which will reasonably assure the appearance of both defendants and the safety of the community.”
Final determination of mental incompetency to stand trial in a child-exploitation prosecution. After three evidentiary hearings, Methvin rejected the Bureau of Prisons' certification that the defendant had been restored to competency, holding that it failed Daubert's minimal reliability standards. She found the more compelling expert evidence showed permanent intellectual disability and continuing incompetence, and she found no basis for continued hospitalization under 18 U.S.C. Section 4246. This was a substantive competency determination rather than a ruling on a party motion.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 696 days (N = 15).
Methvin's Lafayette docket included Social Security appeals, prisoner civil-rights and conditions cases, consent civil matters, and criminal-duty work. The fifteen completed cases summarized below are those with verifiable filing and termination dates; they are a limited sample rather than a representative caseload median.
A historical record
Judge Methvin no longer sits on this court. 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.