Margaret I. Strickland
How Judge Strickland rules, drawn from 58 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Strickland
Margaret Irene Strickland is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. Appointed by President Joseph R. Biden, Judge Strickland received a commission on October 22, 2021.
Judge Strickland's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Strickland, as published on the court's website (checked October 9, 2026). Judges revise these often, so confirm the current version on the court's site before you file.
- Standing Order: Deadlines for Criminal Trials ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Motions for Summary Judgment and Motions in Limine ↗
- Standing Order Establishing Disclosure and Certification Requirements for Generative Artificial Intelligence ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Motions to Seal or Unseal Documents ↗
Key rules
Filing
Disclose generative AI use and identify the tool in any filed document it helped prepare, and certify that its drafted content and citations were checked.
“must disclose in the document that AI was used and the specific AI tool that was used. The unrepresented party or attorney must further certify in the document that the person has checked the accuracy of any portion of the document drafted by generative AI, including all citations and legal authority.”
Motions
In civil cases, each party may file only one summary judgment motion and one motion in limine.
“Each party is limited to filing one motion for summary judgment and one motion in limine.”
Sealing
In criminal cases, motions to seal must explain the public access interest and the case-specific reasons that outweigh it.
“all motions to seal shall acknowledge the public’s interest in accessing court documents and describe how that interest is outweighed by the countervailing interests of the parties.”
Trial
File a criminal trial continuance motion at least 24 hours before the Call of the Calendar.
“All motions to continue trial shall be filed no later than 24 hours prior to the Call of the Calendar”
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 Strickland decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Untung v. Lyons, Strickland denied an immigration-detention habeas petition because the petitioner had received an adequate bond hearing and the court could not review the discretionary flight-risk finding.
“The Due Process Clause is satisfied when a noncitizen detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) receives an adequate bond hearing.”
In an insurer’s declaratory-judgment action involving related state litigation, Judge Strickland found every Mhoon factor favored abstention and dismissed the federal complaint.
“All five Mhoon factors favor abstention. The Court therefore declines to exercise its jurisdiction to issue a declaratory judgment under the Declaratory Judgment Act.”
Procedural preferences
In a removed land dispute, Judge Strickland remanded because the defendant filed its notice of removal forty days after service, outside the statutory deadline.
“Defendant failed to file a Notice of Removal until forty (40) days later, Notice of Removal, ECF No. 1, making it ineffective under § 1446(b)(1).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Defendant Hogrefe's Application for Award of Attorney's Fees, ECF No. 47, is hereby DENIED.”
“the Deming Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment on Counts I, II, III and VI of Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (ECF No. 59) is GRANTED.”
“Defendants Luna County and Lieutenant Arturo Baeza's Motion and Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment and Qualified Immunity against Counts II, III, and VI (ECF No. 25) is DENIED AS MOOT;”
“The Motion by the NMBBE-Related Defendants for Summary Judgment as to Second Cause of Action, ECF No. 100, is GRANTED;”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File a Fourth Amended Complaint, ECF No. 157, is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART ... The Fourth Amended Complaint shall contain ONLY Count III - Violation of Title III of the ADA against ONLY Defendant NMBBE”
“Counts I, II, and III are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE to the extent they seek (1) injunctive relief and (2) a declaratory judgment regarding past liability; Counts I, II, and III are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to the extent they seek prospective declaratory relief ... Count IV is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for lack of subject matter jurisdiction”
“Defendants Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint ... ECF No. 105, is DENIED AS MOOT;”
“Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 10) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART consistent with this Order; Secretary Toulouse Oliver is ENJOINED from enforcing the de facto ban on charitable donations to individuals under Section 1-19-29.1(A)(4).”
“Secretary Toulouse Oliver's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED;”
“Senator Ortiz y Pino's Motion for Permanent Injunction and Declaratory Judgment is DENIED;”
“Defendants' Partial Motion to Dismiss per Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), which the Court construes as a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, is DENIED.”
“Defendant United States of America's Motion to Dismiss a Claim for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Memorandum in Support (ECF No. 55) is DENIED.”
“Defendant Devon Energy Corporation's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (ECF No. 9) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's claims against Defendant Devon Energy Corporation are hereby DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“Defendant Theodore Ian Chavez, IV's Motion to Suppress Statements, ECF No. 39, is DENIED.”
“Defendant Humana's Motion to Dismiss, ECF No. 40, is hereby DENIED.”
“Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Mandatory Minimum Allegation is DENIED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 335 days (N = 14).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 113 days (N = 1).
- Judge Strickland sits in the Las Cruces division.
- The sampled caseload combines illegal-reentry, drug, and firearms prosecutions with civil-rights cases involving local law enforcement, prisoner civil-rights actions, removed personal-injury matters, employment discrimination, insurance, TCPA, and federal tax disputes.
- Magistrate judges frequently handle material-witness and preliminary matters in the criminal cases.
- This describes caseload composition, not motion outcomes.
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 | 6 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 6 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 1 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 4 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 4 |
| Mar 2023 | 8 | 10 |
| Sep 2022 | 16 | 9 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 9 |
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 District of New Mexico, not for Judge Strickland: 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 | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 150 | 4.1 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 511 | 7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 242 | 13.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 5 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 908 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 918 | 8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 835 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2022 | 973 | 11.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 909 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2020 | 957 | 9 months |
| Sep 2019 | 965 | 9.6 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).
Draft for Judge Strickland with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Strickland, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Grounded in Judge Strickland's own signed orders
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