Jane M. Virden

How Judge Virden rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
Position
Magistrate judge
Commissioned
June 13, 2011
Education
B.A., Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, Virginia, 1984; J.D., University of Mississippi School of Law, 1988
Signed orders read
16

About Judge Virden

Jane M. Virden has served as a United States magistrate judge for the Northern District of Mississippi since June 2011. Based in Greenville, she previously practiced law there and earned her law degree from the University of Mississippi.

Judge Virden's practices and standing orders

The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Virden's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).

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).

Key rules from these orders · The court's local rules ↗

How Judge Virden decides

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

What persuades

In Scott v. Astrue, Virden reversed and remanded a benefits denial. She found that the administrative law judge had not performed a function-by-function residual capacity assessment and that the record lacked evidence supporting a six-hour standing capacity.

“the ALJ's RFC finding is not supported by substantial evidence in the record, particularly as there is no evidence indicating that the claimant can stand for six hours of an eight-hour workday.”

In Franks v. Commissioner of Social Security, Virden affirmed a disability benefits denial. She found that the administrative law judge adequately explained why two medical opinions lacked support or conflicted with contemporaneous findings.

“because the ME, Dr. Savage, failed to cite relevant evidence supporting his RFC assessment, the ALJ properly found Dr. Savage's opinion was unpersuasive.”

In Bass v. Commissioner of Social Security, Virden affirmed the denial of benefits after finding that the administrative decision addressed the medical-opinion evidence and was supported by substantial evidence without judicial reweighing.

“The task of evaluating the evidence is the province of the ALJ.”

In First Performance v. DeSoto County, Virden dismissed state agency defendants with prejudice on immunity grounds but delayed dismissal of the county defendants while allowing the plaintiff ten days to seek leave to amend an inadequately pleaded § 1983 claim.

“the court directs the clerk to withhold dismissal of Desoto County and Michael Garriga, in his official capacity as County Administrator of Desoto County for a period of thirty days.”

Procedural preferences

In Carruthers v. State of Mississippi, Virden held a Spears hearing to assess a prisoner's civil rights complaint. She dismissed the case with prejudice after finding that the plaintiff lacked standing to contest a search of another person's home and acknowledged that officers had a warrant.

“appeared before the Court for a hearing pursuant to Spears v. McCotter”

Cautions

In Bennett v. Hall, Virden denied certification of a proposed class of 39 death-row inmates on numerosity grounds. She acknowledged that other courts had certified classes of comparable size, but concluded that this plaintiff's claims should proceed individually.

“39 class members falls within a range of potential members which courts have found not to satisfy the condition of numerosity.”

In Scott v. Hyde, Virden dismissed a prisoner's civil rights complaint as frivolous after finding that its central allegations described delusional scenarios. She also held that the plaintiff could not assert a claim based on alleged threats against his grandson.

“ordinarily a plaintiff ‘must assert his own legal rights and interests, and cannot rest his claim to relief on the legal rights or interests of third parties.’”

In one prisoner case, she denied a request to amend judgment after several opportunities to supply photographs; the party remained responsible for putting supporting evidence before the court.

“Ultimately, it is the plaintiff’s responsibility to provide evidence to support his claims.”

Signed rulings

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

Scott v. Astrue
4:11-cv-00099 · 2012-04-17
Social security appeal (plaintiff) Granted

“the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security should be reversed because (1) the ALJ failed to conduct a function-by-function assessment before determining the claimant's residual functional capacity (‘RFC’), and said error was not harmless and (2) the ALJ's RFC finding is not supported by substantial evidence in the record... IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that this case is REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings.”

Hornsburger v. Astrue
1:11-cv-00185 · 2012-03-23
Social security appeal (plaintiff) Denied

“For the reasons announced by the court on the record at the conclusion of the parties' oral argument this day, the court finds that the Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence. Therefore, the decision of the Commissioner is hereby AFFIRMED.”

First Performance, LLC v. State of Mississippi Department of Public Safety
2:11-cv-00039 · 2013-08-09
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, that the motion to dismiss (Docket #5) is hereby GRANTED. Defendants, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Marshal Fisher, in his official capacity, and Albert Santa Cruz, in his official capacity, are hereby dismissed with prejudice.”

First Performance, LLC v. State of Mississippi Department of Public Safety
2:11-cv-00039 · 2013-08-09
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“It is evident from a review of plaintiff's complaint that it fails to meet the requisite pleading standard... the court directs the clerk to withhold dismissal of Desoto County and Michael Garriga, in his official capacity as County Administrator of Desoto County for a period of thirty days. At the conclusion of thirty days, the court will either direct the clerk to dismiss the county defendants consistent herewith or to allow the case against them to proceed on the basis of the amended complaint, if any, is permitted.”

Brown v. Diversicare Leasing Corporation
4:17-cv-00051 · 2018-01-19
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“United States Magistrate Judge Jane M. Virden issued a Report and Recommendation recommending that Diversicare Leasing Corporation's motion to dismiss be denied... the January 19, 2018, Report and Recommendation [14] is ADOPTED and Diversicare Leasing Corporation's motion to dismiss [11] is DENIED.”

Bennett v. Hall
4:20-cv-00026 · 2021-02-09
Class certification (plaintiff) Denied

“The court believes that this case should proceed as an action to determine whether this individual plaintiff's rights have been violated, rather than the rights of Death Row inmates, in general. As such, the plaintiff's request [17] to certify a class is DENIED.”

Carruthers v. State of Mississippi
3:20-cv-00047 · 2020-12-14
Prisoner screening (court) Granted

“Carruthers has failed to state a cognizable constitutional claim against any named defendant. Accordingly, the instant complaint is hereby DISMISSED, and all named defendants are DISMISSED with prejudice from this action. The instant dismissal shall count as a ‘STRIKE’ under 28 U.S.C. 1915(g).”

Ivory v. Sosa
4:24-cv-00083 · 2024-10-10
Prisoner screening (court) Granted

“the Court finds that this action should be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. This dismissal counts as a ‘strike’ under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g).”

Scott v. Hyde
4:24-cv-00072 · 2024-12-05
Prisoner screening (court) Granted

“The plaintiff's contentions regarding 5G weapons and placement of a ‘chip’ in him are clearly examples of ‘fantastic or delusional scenarios’ and form the basis for all of his claims... As such, the instant case will be dismissed as frivolous.”

Hollis v. City of Clarksdale, Mississippi
2:12-cv-00065 · 2013-07-01
Stipulated dismissal (joint) Moot / procedural

“The Court has been advised by counsel that this action has been settled or is in the process of being settled. Therefore, it is not necessary that the action remain upon the calendar of the Court... IT IS ORDERED that the action is dismissed without prejudice.”

Kenya Denise Bass v. Commissioner of Social Security
4:25-cv-00007-JMV · 2025-08-19
Social security appeal (plaintiff) Denied

“Accordingly, the ALJ's decision shall be and is hereby AFFIRMED.”

Elizabeth A. Burden v. Commissioner of Social Security
4:24-cv-00128-JMV · 2025-07-15
Motions to remand (defendant) Granted

“The Court, having considered the Commissioner's unopposed motion to remand [18], hereby orders that this case be REVERSED AND REMANDED under the fourth sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) to the Commissioner of Social Security for further consideration and administrative action.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median motion-to-ruling time: 193 days (N = 3).

  • Virden's enumerated docket shows a sustained, decade-plus run of consent-track Social Security disability appeals spanning her entire tenure (2011 through her current 2024-2025 caseload), alongside prisoner civil-rights complaints subject to preliminary PLRA screening, employment-discrimination suits, and diversity insurance and commercial-contract cases.
  • Fourteen Social Security appeals sampled across her tenure were decided by her directly under 636(c) consent, split between affirmances of the Commissioner's denial of benefits and reversals or remands for further agency proceedings.

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 months0
Bench trials submitted more than six months0
Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months0
Social Security appeals pending more than six months0
Civil cases pending more than three years0
ReportMotions over six monthsCases over three years
Mar 202600
Sep 202500
Mar 202500
Sep 202400
Mar 202400
Sep 202300
Mar 202300
Sep 202200
Mar 202200
Sep 202100
Mar 202100
Sep 202000

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 United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, not for Judge Virden: 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.

CasesMedian time
All civil cases closed5637.3 months
Closed with no court action1212.8 months
Closed before pretrial1994.2 months
Closed during or after pretrial24211.8 months
Closed during trial1not reported
12 months endingCases closedMedian time
Sep 20255637.3 months
Sep 20247345.5 months
Sep 20237615.7 months
Sep 202264010.8 months
Sep 202159210.7 months
Sep 20206339.3 months
Sep 20195679 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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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Virden, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.

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