Roberto A. Lange
How Judge Lange rules, drawn from 42 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Lange
Roberto Antonio Lange is a judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Judge Lange received a commission on October 21, 2009.
Judge Lange's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Lange's own (checked October 9, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
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).
- STANDING ORDER 25-03 - In the Matter of Procedures for the Access and Management of Non-Public Documents in Criminal Cases ↗
- Standing Order 22-06 Expert Witness Disclosure Deadlines in Criminal Cases ↗
- Standing Order 23-02 Revising the Procedure for Compassionate Release Motions Under the First Step Act ↗
- Standing Order 24-01 - Disclosure of Jail Incident Reports or Similar Documents ↗
How Judge Lange decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Kraft, Lange dismissed the claim against a federal agency for lack of subject matter jurisdiction after the plaintiff failed to identify a statutory waiver of sovereign immunity.
“the plaintiff must point to a specific act of Congress that waives sovereign immunity”
Procedural preferences
In Pessima, Lange treated the defense statement of material facts as admitted after the plaintiff filed an opposition brief but did not respond directly to that statement. He also found the plaintiff’s affidavit too conclusory to create a factual dispute.
“Defendants' statement of undisputed material facts is deemed admitted.”
Cautions
In Wade, Lange rejected an age discrimination allegation in an affidavit that contradicted the plaintiff’s earlier deposition testimony. A party opposing summary judgment needs evidence consistent with its sworn testimony.
“Wade may not rest on an affidavit or a contention in her brief”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that SMC's motion for summary judgment, Doc. 14, is granted.”
“ORDERED that Wells Fargo's Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 15, is granted without prejudice to Kraft as assignee on the companies re-filing a negligence claim under state or common law.”
“ORDERED that the OCC's Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 20, is granted with prejudice.”
“ORDERED that Defendants Cory Nashtock and Trent Wellbaum's Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 31, is granted.”
“ORDERED that NYLIC's Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs, Doc. 36, is granted and that the Clerk of Court is directed to pay to NYLIC $10,000 from the death benefit proceeds deposited with the registry of the Court.”
“ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 27, is granted.”
“As such, Carlon's motion to dismiss is granted.”
“ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 18, is granted.”
“ORDERED that the Corps' Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. IS, is granted in part on the claims of racial discrimination and retaliation. It is further ORDERED that summary judgment on the hostile work environment and constructive discharge claims are denied without prejudice to refiling a later motion for summary judgment.”
“ORDERED that the Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 34, is granted.”
“ORDERED that Respondents' Motion to Dismiss, Doc. 7, is granted.”
“ORDERED that Crow Dog's Habeas Petition, Doc. 4, is dismissed and that no certificate of appealability enters.”
“ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc. 28, is granted.”
“TRW moved to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction. Doc. 13, and Plaintiffs opposed that motion. Doc. 27. For the reasons stated below, this Court will grant TRW's motion to dismiss or, if Plaintiffs request, transfer the case to a district with jurisdiction.”
“ORDERED that the defendants' motion to dismiss, Doc. 7, is granted in part with respect to Grounds One, Five, and Ten and denied in part with respect to Grounds Two, Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
As Chief Judge of a small district, Lange carries a mixed civil/criminal/prisoner docket across all four divisions.
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 | 0 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 4 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 2 |
| Mar 2024 | 1 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 3 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 5 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 2 |
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 South Dakota, not for Judge Lange: 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 | 236 | 10.2 months |
| Closed with no court action | 76 | 11 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 151 | 8.7 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 1 | not reported |
| Closed during trial | 8 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 236 | 10.2 months |
| Sep 2024 | 248 | 11.5 months |
| Sep 2023 | 222 | 9.8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 220 | 12.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 197 | 13.8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 216 | 11.1 months |
| Sep 2019 | 233 | 10.8 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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