John Alden Woodcock Jr.
How Judge Woodcock rules, drawn from 26 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Woodcock
John A. Woodcock, Jr. is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Woodcock received a commission on June 16, 2003. Judge Woodcock assumed senior status on June 27, 2017.
Judge Woodcock's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Woodcock, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026).
How Judge Woodcock decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a trademark preliminary-injunction analysis, convincing evidence of actual consumer confusion plus near-identical marks and shared marketing terms carried the likelihood-of-success factor.
“the plaintiff has put forth convincing evidence of actual confusion”
A pretrial motion to dismiss an indictment is not a vehicle to contest the sufficiency of the evidence behind the charge; the court accepts the indictment's factual allegations as true at that stage.
“a motion to dismiss is an inappropriate way to test the sufficiency of the evidence behind the indictment's allegations”
In a vigorously disputed wage-and-hour record, genuine disputes of material fact require jury resolution rather than summary judgment.
“there are genuine disputes of material fact that require jury resolution”
Procedural preferences
In Olszewski v. Hutchins, he dismissed the federal claims as implausibly pleaded and declined supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims at that early stage, dismissing them without prejudice.
“the court follows well-established precedent in declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims at this early stage of the proceeding”
Injunctive relief in an immigration-detention TRO is circumscribed to the minimum necessary to prevent irremediable harm rather than the broader relief sought in the petition.
“the relief afforded [may not be] more burdensome than necessary to redress the complaining parties”
For a pro se litigant, the judge held back on adopting an unopposed recommended dismissal until certain the objection deadline had passed before making it final.
“Given the Plaintiff's pro se status, the Court held back on issuing the order to make certain that Mr. Truman was not going to file an objection.”
In St. Dominic Academy v. Makin, he denied a preliminary injunction after assessing the constitutional claims and described his opinion as a prelude to appellate review of the disputed issues.
“the Court has attempted to frame its opinion as a prelude to a challenge to the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit for a more authoritative ruling”
Cautions
For a litigant with a documented history of vexatious and frivolous filings, the judge affirmed dismissal with prejudice across every motion and expressly warned that further filing restrictions could follow.
“the Court CAUTIONS Mr. Judd and places him on NOTICE that filing restrictions 'may be in the offing.'”
Even when a pro se filing used intemperate, accusatory language toward the court, the judge addressed each legal argument methodically on the merits rather than reacting to the tone.
“Looking past Mr. Sanchez Ramirez's hyperbolic language, his motion for reconsideration must fail.”
In United States v. Kilmartin, he dismissed a proposed sentence reduction without prejudice as unripe because it would not take effect for five years and depended on uncertain future health and caregiving needs; he did not decide the compassionate-release merits.
“Mr. Kilmartin’s request for a future reduction of sentence does not meet either ripeness prong.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court DENIES Cosme Sanchez Ramirez's Motion for Reconsideration. (ECF No. 327).”
“It is further ORDERED that the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 4) is GRANTED.”
“it is hereby ORDERED that the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Docket No. 3) be and hereby is GRANTED.”
“This Court GRANTS the state of Maine's Motion to Remand to State Court.”
“The Court therefore GRANTS Defendant Dwight Fowles' Motion to Dismiss without prejudice (Docket # 24).”
“The practical constraints on the availability of residential reentry center beds do not meet the ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ standard of § 3582(c)(1)(A). ... The Court DISMISSES without prejudice Ryan Orton’s Motion for Compassionate Release (ECF No. 95).”
“The Court DISMISSES without prejudice Sidney Kilmartin's Motion for Compassionate Release (ECF No. 335).”
“The Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion to Dismiss with Incorporated Memorandum of Law (ECF No. 9) and accordingly DISMISSES without prejudice Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint Including Request for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (ECF No. 5), inclusive of its request for a preliminary injunction.”
“The Court ORDERS that the Federal Respondents in this matter are hereby ENJOINED from removing Carlos Augusto Chang Barrios from the District of Maine pending further order of this Court.”
“The Court DISMISSES with prejudice Keith Russell Judd's 28 U.S.C. § 2241 Petition (Docket # 1).”
“The Court DISMISSES with prejudice Keith Russell Judd's Motion to Take Judicial Notice of Actual Innocence (Docket # 7), Motion for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief to Correct Record that There is No Federal Felony Conviction or Sentence for Keith Russell Judd (Docket # 8), and Motion for Court to Certify Actual Innocence Claim Under Savings Clause (Docket # 10).”
“The Court DENIES Keith Russell Judd's Application for Class Action Certification (Docket # 14).”
“In the event Keith Russell Judd appeals this decision and seeks a certificate of appealability, the Court DENIES the certificate of appealability because there has been no substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2).”
“The Court DENIES Schwan's Home Service, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 25).”
“The Court DENIES Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 29).”
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| Motions pending more than six months | 12 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 12 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2025 | 4 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 8 | 2 |
| Mar 2024 | 5 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 2 | 2 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2022 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar 2022 | 1 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, not for Judge Woodcock: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 464 | 6.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 149 | 4.9 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 290 | 6.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 22 | 20 months |
| Closed during trial | 3 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 464 | 6.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 409 | 8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 388 | 8.1 months |
| Sep 2022 | 397 | 8.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 459 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 390 | 8.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 506 | 7.8 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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