Henry Edward Autrey
How Judge Autrey decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On Title VII claims he polices administrative exhaustion strictly: claims added in the federal complaint must be 'reasonably related' to the underlying EEOC charge or they are dismissed. Make sure your charge fairly encompasses every theory you plan to litigate.
“Neither of these claims fall within what is reasonably related to retaliation complaining about discriminatory practices nor wage discrimination.”
Procedural preferences
When he grants a Rule 12 dismissal he routinely grants leave to amend or dismisses without prejudice to refiling after the record develops, rather than ending the case outright. A pleading defect before him is usually fixable; be ready to replead promptly (he set a three-day window in one case).
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiffs are granted leave to amend the Complaint within three (3) days of the date this Order.”
Cautions
He enforces jurisdictional limits on collateral review: a 28 U.S.C. 2241 petition cannot be used to attack the constitutionality of the underlying convictions, and he will dismiss such arguments with prejudice. Bring conviction-validity challenges through the proper 2254/2255 channel, not a 2241.
“This Court has no jurisdiction to review the constitutionality of the underlying criminal convictions. 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). As a result, petitioner's arguments are without merit, and the petition will be dismissed with prejudice.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Motions to dismiss N = 2 |
Granted: 1Granted in part: 1 | counts only |
| Summary judgment N = 2 |
Granted: 1Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motions to strike N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to reconsider N = 1 |
Granted: 1 | counts only |
| Petition for writ of habeas corpus 2241 N = 1 |
Denied: 1 | counts only |
| Motion to proceed ifp N = 1 |
Moot / procedural: 1 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, [Doc. No. 14], is granted in part and denied in part, without prejudice to refiling after development of the record herein.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that petitioner's motion for reconsideration [#5] is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 [#1] is DENIED with prejudice.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Joint Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 24] is DENIED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant Guy Montgomery's Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 25] is GRANTED.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Strike Motion Affidavit of Christopher J. Coyle [ECF No. 30] is DENIED subject to the limitations specified above.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants' Joint Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Plaintiffs are granted leave to amend the Complaint within three (3) days of the date this Order.”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff James Mertens's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED without prejudice. (ECF No. 2).”