Frank Howell Seay
Judge Seay no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Seay decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
Government officials sued individually under Section 1983 -- judges, prosecutors, and their investigators -- fare well before this judge when the challenged conduct falls within a recognized immunity, but he draws the line at the edge of that doctrine rather than extending it reflexively: he rejected an investigator's claim of absolute immunity because Tenth Circuit precedent limits that immunity to prosecutors and judges themselves, even while granting immunity to the prosecutor and judge in the same set of cases.
“'[I]mmunity is justified and defined by the functions it protects and serves, not by the person to whom it attaches' ... Defendant Cathey's motion to dismiss, based on absolute immunity, therefore, is DENIED without prejudice to file a proper dispositive motion.”
Cautions
In prisoner civil-rights suits, exhaustion of administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act is treated as a threshold, case-dispositive requirement, and he will comb a plaintiff's full grievance history in detail to confirm exhaustion was not completed before granting summary judgment or dismissal.
“After careful review, the court finds plaintiff has failed to show there is a genuine issue for trial as to whether he has exhausted his administrative remedies, and the defendants' motion for summary judgment should be granted.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Thus, the court finds the defendant Fioretti is entitled to qualified immunity in that his conduct did not violate the clearly established law or constitutional rights concerning search warrants. ... Accordingly, the court grants the defendant Fioretti's motion to dismiss in his individual capacity as it relates to the issue of qualified immunity.”
“For the reasons stated herein, Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Docket No. 15) and his Supplemental Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Docket No. 61) are hereby denied.”
“Based on the foregoing reasons, the VA's motion for summary judgment is granted and the VA is entitled to judgment in its favor on all claims asserted by Madewell.”
“Royal's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is granted in all respects, except for the allegations constituting claims under the Fourteenth Amendment for denial of due process and the Fourth Amendment for illegal entry.”
“Defendants Judge Mark Campbell and Matt Stubblefield are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE”
“Defendant Doug Canant is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE”
“Defendant Julie Nafieh's motion to dismiss (Docket No. 20) is GRANTED”
“Defendant David Michael Cathey's motion to dismiss (Docket No. 21) is DENIED.”
“Defendants ... motion for summary judgment (Dkt. 118) is GRANTED, and these defendants are DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE from this action for plaintiff's failure to exhaust administrative remedies for his claims against them ... This action is dismissed in its entirety, and this dismissal shall count as a STRIKE, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1915(g).”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The identifiable caseload assigned to this judge spans Social Security disability appeals, prisoner habeas and civil-rights suits, civil forfeiture, tax and IRS disputes, and general civil litigation removed from state court (insurance, contract, tort). Dockets outside the small 2016 cohort largely carry only case-level metadata (parties, nature of suit, filing and termination dates) without a retained entry-by-entry timeline.
A historical record
Judge Seay no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.