Malachy E. Mannion
How Judge Mannion rules, drawn from 31 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Mannion
Malachy Edward Mannion is a judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Mannion received a commission on December 27, 2012. Judge Mannion assumed senior status on January 3, 2024.
Judge Mannion's practices and standing orders
Rules for cases before Judge Mannion, 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
Contacting chambers
Send written correspondence to the judge through ECF.
“accepts written correspondence from counsel via ECF.”
Filing
Send courtesy copies only if specifically requested.
“does not desire courtesy copies of motions, briefs, or other”
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 Mannion decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Hanover Area School District v. CM Regent Insurance Co., he denied a preliminary injunction because the plaintiff’s claimed loss of defense coverage could be compensated with damages and therefore did not establish irreparable harm.
“So the harm Plaintiff alleges here in the absence of a stay can be redressed by a legal remedy. It has therefore not established irreparable harm.”
In a 2026 immigration-detention habeas case, he ordered an individualized bond hearing after finding about a year of detention with no indicated end date and conditions resembling criminal punishment.
“He has been detained for approximately one year with no indication that his detention will end any time soon, and his detention appears penal in nature.”
Procedural preferences
In Ballard v. Navient, no party objected to the magistrate judge’s recommendation. Mannion reviewed the motion materials for clear error, adopted the recommendation in full, and granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss and strike class allegations.
“the report and recommendation of Judge Carlson (Doc. 56) is ADOPTED IN ITS ENTIRETY AS THE RULING OF THE COURT.”
In United States v. Martinez, Mannion decided eight pretrial requests separately, granting the request for the government’s expert information, denying five requests, and granting two in part.
“Martinez's motion to produce the government's expert information, (Doc. 41), is GRANTED.”
Cautions
In Brooks v. Hurwitz, he denied reconsideration of a habeas ruling because the petitioner repeated earlier claims and identified no new matter or manifest error that would have changed the decision.
“this Court finds that its Memorandum and Order of December 30, 2020, is not troubled by manifest errors of law or fact and Petitioner has not presented anything new, which if previously presented, might have affected our decision.”
In United States v. Cook, Mannion granted a Franks hearing concerning the warrant affidavit for a home search but denied suppression after the hearing. The same order denied the defendant’s other listed suppression motions.
“The Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from his house ... following a Franks hearing, (Doc. 119), is DENIED”
In McFarlane, the court declined to extend time for service after years without a summons request or an earlier extension request, even though the limitations period likely prevented refiling against two defendants. The memorandum announced dismissal of those claims without prejudice.
“the Court finds that a discretionary extension of time to serve the Inmate Defendants is unwarranted here”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the School District defendants' motion for summary judgment, (Doc. 71), is GRANTED”
“defendant Diaz's motion for summary judgment, (Doc. 72), is GRANTED”
“the plaintiff's request for discovery into the assets of Mr. Piermattei via its motion to compel, (Doc. 17), will be DENIED as it could not lead to execution of assets of the judgment debtor”
“the defendants' motion to dismiss the second amended complaint, (Doc. 65), is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART”
“the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction, (Doc. 21), is DENIED.”
“SCM's motion to dismiss, (Doc. 27), Keystone's third party complaint, (Doc. 16), for lack of personal jurisdiction is GRANTED”
“the United States's summary judgment motion, (Doc. 34), is GRANTED”
“the defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 17), is DENIED.”
“Consequently, the petition for writ of habeas corpus will be denied.”
“The plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment on Count I of the complaint (Doc. 11) is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The plaintiff's motion is GRANTED as to liability and DENIED as to damages.”
“The defendants' motion for partial summary judgment on Count II of the complaint (Doc. 14) is GRANTED.”
“The motion to dismiss be GRANTED as to the tortious interference with contract claim and DENIED in all other respects.”
“The motion to strike the class action allegations will be DENIED.”
“The defendant Vincent John Ingino's motion to suppress, (Doc. 43), is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The government will be permitted to introduce only the photograph described in the accompanying memorandum, but will be prohibited from introducing the other three photographs.”
“this Court finds that its Memorandum and Order of December 30, 2020, is not troubled by manifest errors of law or fact ... Consequently, the motion for reconsideration will be denied.”
“Oscar's petition for writ of habeas corpus (Doc. 1) is DENIED.”
“Petitioner's subsequent motions for injunctive relief (Docs. 24, 27-29) and motions for release (Docs. 26, 31, 32), based on the above captioned petition, are DISMISSED as moot.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Civil docket mix in the sampled windows is dominated by employment (Title VII/PHRA/FLSA), prisoner Sec.1983 and habeas corpus petitions, insurance/coverage disputes, and general commercial matters; the criminal docket includes a large ongoing multi-defendant health-care-fraud prosecution (United States v. Suess) with a jury trial pending as of mid-2026.
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 | 13 |
| 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 | 11 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 13 | 11 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 | 8 |
| Mar 2025 | 7 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 28 | 17 |
| Mar 2024 | 36 | 28 |
| Sep 2023 | 48 | 46 |
| Mar 2023 | 32 | 47 |
| Sep 2022 | 43 | 40 |
| Mar 2022 | 31 | 35 |
| Sep 2021 | 50 | 41 |
| Mar 2021 | 50 | 45 |
| Sep 2020 | 71 | 34 |
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 U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, not for Judge Mannion: 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 | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Closed with no court action | 660 | 6 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 901 | 10.6 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 21 | 39.8 months |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,590 | 8.5 months |
| Sep 2024 | 1,535 | 8.7 months |
| Sep 2023 | 1,370 | 11 months |
| Sep 2022 | 1,550 | 12.7 months |
| Sep 2021 | 1,420 | 9.4 months |
| Sep 2020 | 1,410 | 10.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 1,611 | 11 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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