Jane M. Virden
How Judge Virden rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
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).
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.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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 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).”
“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).”
“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.”
“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.”
“Accordingly, the ALJ's decision shall be and is hereby AFFIRMED.”
“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 months | 0 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
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.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 563 | 7.3 months |
| Closed with no court action | 121 | 2.8 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 199 | 4.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 242 | 11.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 1 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 563 | 7.3 months |
| Sep 2024 | 734 | 5.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 761 | 5.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 640 | 10.8 months |
| Sep 2021 | 592 | 10.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 633 | 9.3 months |
| Sep 2019 | 567 | 9 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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