John C. Gargiulo
How Judge Gargiulo rules, drawn from 12 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Gargiulo no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Gargiulo
John C. Gargiulo served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi from August 2014 until his death on October 3, 2021. Before joining the federal bench, he was a Mississippi circuit judge and an assistant district attorney. He also served in the U.S. Army and Mississippi Air National Guard.
How Judge Gargiulo decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Social Security appeals, he traced a claimant's residual-functional-capacity challenge back to the underlying medical source the ALJ relied on: in one case finding that because every source the ALJ cited tied its own opinion to a functional capacity evaluation that itself did not support the ALJ's conclusion, the decision could not stand on substantial evidence, and remanded rather than affirming.
“Given that the sources the ALJ relied on in determining that Hudson could perform the full range of light work tied their decisions to the FCE, there is not substantial evidence to support the determination that Hudson has the capacity to perform a full range of light work.”
In Stogner v. Beasley, he granted summary judgment on an excessive-force claim because the plaintiff’s administrative grievances did not mention the alleged force and therefore had not exhausted that claim.
“Plaintiff did not follow MDOC’s procedural rules.”
Procedural preferences
He enforced his own show-cause and briefing deadlines: when a pro se plaintiff stopped responding to an order to show cause after not opposing a pending summary-judgment motion, he dismissed the case for failure to prosecute rather than let it sit dormant, mooting the pending motion.
“Plaintiff has failed to prosecute and obey orders of the Court; therefore, his Complaint will be dismissed without prejudice.”
In Wilbon v. Commissioner of Social Security, Gargiulo granted two unopposed requests to extend the claimant’s briefing deadline through docket text orders. Each order set a new deadline and said no further written order would issue.
“TEXT ONLY ORDER granting Plaintiff's 14 Unopposed Motion for Additional Time to File Brief. Plaintiff's brief is now due 8/17/18. NO FURTHER WRITTEN ORDER WILL ISSUE.”
Cautions
In Stogner v. Beasley, he denied the plaintiff’s motion to appoint counsel and set a deadline for the plaintiff to respond.
“ORDER denying 3 Motion to Appoint Counsel. Plaintiff shall file a response consistent with this Order no later than September 20, 2018.”
He required a claimant's own signature (not just counsel's) before granting a motion to voluntarily dismiss a Social Security appeal, denying a first attempt without prejudice for lack of proof the claimant personally concurred.
“The Court will entertain a Motion to Dismiss Appeal that Plaintiff has signed, or Plaintiff's counsel must submit other proof that Plaintiff concurs with the Motion to Dismiss Appeal.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER denying 17 Motion for Hearing; granting 18 Motion to Dismiss; granting 18 Motion for Summary Judgment.”
“Because the circumstances do not warrant equitable tolling, summary judgment should be rendered in favor of the Commissioner.”
“Because the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence and in accord with relevant legal standards, the Commissioner's decision should be affirmed and Plaintiff's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings denied.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER granting 41 Motion for Summary Judgment; granting 41 Motion for Attorney Fees. Ordered that Plaintiff is awarded $1,000 in statutory damages and $15,480 in attorney fees.”
“IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Defendant's Motion for an Order Affirming the Commissioner's Decision (ECF No. 16) is DENIED and the case is REMANDED.”
“Defendant Anthony Beasley’s Motion for Summary Judgment Based on Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies (ECF No. 27) is GRANTED.”
“the Court finds that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment should be GRANTED for the reasons submitted by Defendants.”
“the undersigned concludes that the Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 30), filed by Ronald Woodall and Karen Deese, and the Motion for Summary Judgment Based on Sovereign and Qualified Immunity (ECF No. 35), filed by Marshall Fisher, will both be GRANTED.”
“the Court concludes that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 25) will be GRANTED. Plaintiff's claims will be dismissed with prejudice.”
“Plaintiff has failed to prosecute and obey orders of the Court; therefore, his Complaint will be dismissed without prejudice.”
“Ordered that 102 Motion for Summary Judgment is rendered moot.”
“Memorandum Opinion and Order: that the decision of the Commissioner is affirmed.”
“Memorandum Opinion and Order - IT IS ORDERED that the Commissioner's Motion to Affirm 16 is DENIED and the case is REMANDED.”
“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Commissioner's Motion to Affirm 14 is GRANTED, and the Commissioner's decision is AFFIRMED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 84 days (N = 10).
Judge Gargiulo's sampled consent docket is dominated by Social Security disability appeals and prisoner civil-rights suits under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, with a smaller share of diversity contract, personal-injury, and debt-collection matters.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Gargiulo was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2021.
| 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 | 1 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
A historical record
Judge Gargiulo no longer hears cases. 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.