Michael Jay Newman

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio district Appointed by Donald Trump (Republican) 13 signed orders read

How Judge Newman decides

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

Procedural preferences

Prefers to develop the record and decide claims at summary judgment rather than dismiss them at the pleading stage, denying a motion to dismiss to permit discovery.

“Defendant's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is DENIED. To clarify, the following complaint claims remain ... counts 1, 2, 4 and 5 ... the efficient and appropriate way forward is to permit discovery to occur and consider the parties' arguments on summary judgment, not earlier at the motion-to-dismiss phase of litigation.”

Cautions

Treats a claim a party fails to defend in its opposition brief as waived or abandoned, granting summary judgment on it.

“the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendant's motions for summary judgment (Doc. Nos. 42, 43, 44, 45). Each Plaintiff's individual claim for disability discrimination is DISMISSED, and summary judgment is GRANTED as to those claims. The failure to accommodate claims, however, remain active, and summary judgment is DENIED as to those claims.”

Limits reconsideration to manifest error, new evidence, or intervening controlling law; repeating prior arguments with a different spin does not suffice.

“Scaccia's motion for reconsideration is DENIED ... The Court will not revisit earlier arguments made with a 'different spin' that it previously dismissed ... Scaccia does not get a second opportunity, so the Court rejects these repetitious arguments.”

Signed rulings

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

Brown v. Hollins
· 2024-02-16
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendant WPAFB's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is GRANTED ... the Court concludes that it lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiff's claims against Defendant WPAFB ... Plaintiff's claims against Defendants WPAFB, Judge Cross, and Hollins are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“Defendant Judge Cross's renewed motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 6) is GRANTED ... Plaintiff's Complaint shall be DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE with respect to Judge Cross.”

Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Denied

“Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction (Doc. No. 13) is DENIED ... Because Plaintiff has not pled legally cognizable claims ... she necessarily cannot demonstrate a strong likelihood of success on the merits.”

Kahut v. NVR, Inc.
· 2026-01-16
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“Defendant's motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 11) is DENIED. To clarify, the following complaint claims remain ... counts 1, 2, 4 and 5 ... the efficient and appropriate way forward is to permit discovery to occur and consider the parties' arguments on summary judgment, not earlier at the motion-to-dismiss phase of litigation.”

Fetters v. DeJoy (Postmaster General)
· 2024-07-30
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted in part

“the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendant's motions for summary judgment (Doc. Nos. 42, 43, 44, 45). Each Plaintiff's individual claim for disability discrimination is DISMISSED, and summary judgment is GRANTED as to those claims. The failure to accommodate claims, however, remain active, and summary judgment is DENIED as to those claims.”

Scaccia v. Lyft, Inc.
· 2021-11-18
Motion for reconsideration (plaintiff) Denied

“Scaccia's motion for reconsideration is DENIED ... The Court will not revisit earlier arguments made with a 'different spin' that it previously dismissed ... Scaccia does not get a second opportunity, so the Court rejects these repetitious arguments.”

American Power, LLC v. Harris
· 2024-06-05
Motion to seal (plaintiff) Granted

“For good cause shown, American Power LLC's motion for leave to file under seal (Doc. No. 232) is GRANTED.”

Sheetz, Inc. v. City of Centerville, OH
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“the motions to dismiss (Doc. Nos. 7, 18) are DENIED.”

Whaley v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“motion to dismiss (Doc. No. 17) is thus GRANTED”

Craghead v. Trail Tavern of Yellow Springs, LLC
Motion for settlement approval (plaintiff) Denied

“the Court hereby DENIES the parties”

Fanty v. Greater Dayton Premier Management
Judgment on the pleadings (defendant) Granted

“The Court also GRANTS on the merits Defendants”

Boehne v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
Summary judgment (defendant) Moot / procedural

“pending motion for summary judgment is premature and DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Dugas v. City of Moraine, Ohio
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“motions to dismiss (Doc. Nos. 14, 16, 18) are CONDITIONALLY GRANTED.”

Drane v. Sheriff Rob Streck
Petition for writ of habeas corpus (petitioner) Denied

“PREJUDICE for failure to prosecute and as premature.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

A 2021-2023 sample and more recent cases from Judge Newman's Dayton docket include Social Security appeals, civil-rights and employment actions, fair-housing claims, employee-benefits disputes, immigration mandamus petitions, personal-injury cases, and consumer matters. The sample is illustrative rather than random.

Put Judge Newman's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Newman actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Newman's own signed orders and cites them.