Samuel Courter Morris Shimeall
How Judge Shimeall rules, drawn from 29 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Shimeall
Samuel Courter Morris Shimeall is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus. He was sworn in on March 16, 2026, after serving as an Assistant United States Attorney. He earned degrees from the College of Wooster, Loyola Marymount University, and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Judge Shimeall's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Shimeall, 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.
Key rules
Motions
Obtain leave before filing a brief or memorandum longer than 20 pages.
“Briefs and/or memoranda in support of or in opposition to any motion shall not exceed twenty pages unless a party first obtains leave of court.”
Discovery
Hold an informal discovery conference before filing a discovery motion.
“The Court will not permit the filing of motions relating to discovery until an informal discovery conference, as described below, is held.”
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).
- General Order 24-02 In Re: Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- U.S. District Court General Order No. 24-05 ↗
- General Order 23-03 In Re: Automatic Sealing and Procedures for Unsealing of Applications for Search Warrants, Pen Registers, Trap and Trace Devices, or Court Orders Under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d). ↗
How Judge Shimeall decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a pro se screening, Morris-Shimeall found that the plaintiff’s challenge to an ongoing state proceeding was barred by Younger abstention.
“Because Plaintiff's case arises from and seeks to challenge ongoing state court proceedings, this federal action is barred under the Younger abstention doctrine.”
On a Monell theory he requires more than a single incident: one officer's failure to follow a rule does not show the municipality was deliberately indifferent to a training need.
“one officer's failure to comply with a statute or rule is generally insufficient to show that the City was deliberately indifferent to a need to train officers.”
Procedural preferences
In a sealing dispute, Morris-Shimeall cited the rule allowing court filings to be sealed only for the most compelling reasons.
“documents filed with the Court may be placed under seal '[o]nly for the most compelling reasons.'”
Even when a summary-judgment motion is unopposed, he requires the movant to support it with evidence and satisfy the Rule 56 burden before recommending judgment.
“even when faced with an unopposed motion for summary judgment, the district court cannot grant a motion for summary judgment without first considering supporting evidence and determining whether the movant has met its burden.”
Cautions
In a civil action where discovery had not begun, Morris-Shimeall denied the plaintiff’s preservation motion without prejudice as premature.
“Plaintiff's Motion to Preserve Evidence (ECF No. 13) is DENIED without prejudice. At minimum this Motion is premature as discovery has not begun in this action.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“For good cause shown, Plaintiff's Motion (ECF No. 14) is GRANTED pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a)(2).”
“Plaintiff's Supplemental Motion to Seal (ECF No. 10) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Seal Exhibits U, U1, V, and X (ECF No. 11) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Plaintiff's Motion to Preserve Evidence (ECF No. 13) is DENIED without prejudice.”
“the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation (Doc. No. 11), without objection. Wherefore, the Court DISMISSES Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. No. 6) WITH PREJUDICE.”
“the Court adopts the R&R (Doc. 34) in its entirety. Accordingly, the Court DENIES Young's Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint (Doc. 30) as futile.”
Shimeall-signed ORDER AND R&R. IFP GRANTED; recommends 1915(e) dismissal (Younger abstention + Rooker-Feldman + frivolousness/immunity). As a sua sponte screening, it is excluded from the motion statistics and counted as an order read. Complaint filed 2026-03-26, R&R 2026-04-09 = 14d.
“For the reasons that follow, it is RECOMMENDED that the Court OVERRULE Plaintiff's Statement of Errors and AFFIRM the Commissioner's decision.”
“In the Report and Recommendation, the Magistrate Judge recommended that this Court dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint in part and allow some of the claims to proceed to further development (ECF No. 7)... this Court ADOPTS the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 7) and OVERRULES Plaintiff's Objections (ECF No. 8). Plaintiff's Complaint (ECF No. 6) is DISMISSED in part.”
“Plaintiff's and Defendants' sealing requests are GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.”
“Defendants' request to seal the customer maps is GRANTED... Defendants' request to seal these documents is DENIED without prejudice subject to the directives below.”
“Accordingly, the Undersigned RECOMMENDS that Petitioner's petition (ECF No. 1) be DISMISSED without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.”
“For the reasons stated in this Opinion and Order, the Court OVERRULES Plaintiff's Objection (ECF No. 7) and ADOPTS and AFFIRMS the Magistrate Judge's Order and Report and Recommendation (ECF No. 5)... The Court DISMISSES this action without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.”
“For the foregoing reasons, Defendants' Motion to Compel (ECF No. 42) is GRANTED in accordance with this Order.”
“The Undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court REVERSE the Commissioner of Social Security's nondisability finding and REMAND this case to the Commissioner and the administrative law judge (‘ALJ’) under Sentence Four of § 405(g).”
“The Undersigned RECOMMENDS that the Court REVERSE the Commissioner of Social Security's nondisability finding and REMAND this case to the Commissioner and the ALJ under Sentence Four of § 405(g).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
As of September 2026, Judge Shimeall's directly assigned docket consists largely of recently filed, still-pending Social Security disability appeals. He also issues prisoner screening and habeas recommendations in cases assigned to district judges. No terminated-case distribution is available yet for this recently appointed judge.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, not for Judge Shimeall: 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 | 2,199 | 9 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,037 | 7.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 810 | 7.2 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 343 | 15.2 months |
| Closed during trial | 9 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,199 | 9 months |
| Sep 2024 | 2,137 | 8.2 months |
| Sep 2023 | 2,153 | 9.7 months |
| Sep 2022 | 2,311 | 12.6 months |
| Sep 2021 | 2,287 | 10.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,012 | 9.7 months |
| Sep 2019 | 5,561 | 41.6 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).
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