James O. Browning
How Judge Browning decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a Sixth Amendment speedy-trial motion, works through all four Barker v. Wingo factors and denies relief where the government diligently pursued the defendant despite a long delay.
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendant Carlos Arturo Quintana's Motion to Dismiss Based on Violations of His Constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial, filed September 19, 2023 (Doc. 377), is denied.”
Procedural preferences
Performs granular, claim-by-claim and defendant-by-defendant qualified-immunity analysis, denying summary judgment where a fact dispute survives as to an individual officer while dismissing vicarious-liability and municipal theories.
“the Defendants' Motion and Supporting Memorandum for Qualified Immunity and Summary Judgment, filed January 5, 2016 (Doc. 25), is granted in part and denied in part; ... the MSJ is denied on Count I with respect to Thouvenell”
Cautions
Dismisses Section 1983 claims against a state department because it is not a 'person' subject to suit, granting leave to amend and directing habeas as the vehicle for restoration of credits.
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, filed August 26, 2024 (Doc. 3), is granted in part, and denied in part; (ii) all federal claims in the Plaintiff's Complaint ... are dismissed without prejudice; (iii) if the Plaintiff wants to pursue civil claims, he must file a single amended complaint, within thirty days”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, filed August 26, 2024 (Doc. 3), is granted in part, and denied in part; (ii) all federal claims in the Plaintiff's Complaint ... are dismissed without prejudice; (iii) if the Plaintiff wants to pursue civil claims, he must file a single amended complaint, within thirty days”
“the Defendants' Motion and Supporting Memorandum for Qualified Immunity and Summary Judgment, filed January 5, 2016 (Doc. 25), is granted in part and denied in part; ... the MSJ is denied on Count I with respect to Thouvenell”
“the Amended Motion and Memorandum for Summary Judgment Based on Qualified Immunity, filed February 18, 2016 (Doc. 37), is granted in part and denied in part; (iv) all claims against the City of Las Cruces and the John Doe(s) ... are dismissed without prejudice”
“the requests in the Defendants' Motion and Memorandum of Law to Dismiss and/or for Summary Judgment Against Plaintiffs' Complaint and for Qualified Immunity, filed March 10, 2017 (Doc. 20), is granted; and (iii) this action is dismissed with prejudice.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Defendant Carlos Arturo Quintana's Motion to Dismiss Based on Violations of His Constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial, filed September 19, 2023 (Doc. 377), is denied.”
“the Plaintiffs Motion to Amend and Restate for Remand at 2, filed February 25, 2022 (Doc. 23), is granted in that (a) all of the Plaintiffs federal claims are dismissed with prejudice, and (b) the Plaintiffs remaining state law claims are remanded to the Seventh Judicial District Court, County of Sierra, State of New Mexico”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by District Judge James O. Browning denying 8 MOTION to Remand to State Court and Memorandum in Support Thereof.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by District Judge James O. Browning denying 30 Opposed MOTION for Reconsideration re 29 Memorandum Opinion and Order or in the Alternative Motion and Application to Amend the Opinion and Certify the Orde”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by District Judge James O. Browning denying Defendant's Motion to Suppress 18.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by District Judge James O. Browning granting in part and denying in part Defendant Paul Jessen's Motion for Bill of Particulars 39 and denying Defendant Paul Jessen's Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Outrageous Government Conduct and Violation of Defendant's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights of Due Process 40.”
“granting in part and denying in part Defendant Paul Jessen's Motion for Bill of Particulars 39 and denying Defendant Paul Jessen's Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Outrageous Government Conduct and Violation of Defendant's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment Rights of Due Process 40.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by District Judge James O. Browning denying 70 MOTION to Dismiss Counts 1, 2 & 3 of the Indictment.”
“IT IS ORDERED that: (i) the Respondents' Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment, filed January 14, 2025 (Dolan v. FEMA, No. CIV 23-0908 Doc. 62)(‘Dolan Motion’), is denied; and (ii) the Respondents' Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment, filed January 14, 2025 (Lands v. FEMA, No. CIV23-0869 Doc. 63)(‘Lands Motion’), is denied.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 301 days (N = 8).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 188.5 days (N = 8).
Senior Judge Browning has served in Albuquerque since 2003. Recent assignments are dominated by an increase in alien-detainee habeas petitions, so the sampled civil caseload also looks to cases filed from 2019 through 2021. His work includes other habeas petitions, prisoner and other civil-rights actions, diversity insurance and tort cases, Social Security appeals, and drug, firearms, and illegal-reentry prosecutions. This describes caseload composition, not motion outcomes.
Put Judge Browning's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Browning actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Browning's own signed orders and cites them.