Jill E. McCook
How Judge McCook decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a felon-in-possession Second Amendment challenge, her recommendation treated a defendant's full criminal history -- not just the age or number of convictions -- as the touchstone for whether he could be disarmed as 'dangerous,' finding his history of home invasion and drug trafficking with firearms met that standard.
“Defendant's prior criminal 'history shows he is dangerous'”
On a suppression motion, she separated the taint of an unlawful arrest from an otherwise-lawful traffic stop, finding that a K-9 sniff conducted by an officer uninvolved in the unlawful arrest was untainted by it, even though the same stop produced both the unlawful arrest and the dog alert.
“Officer Marlow assisted in surrounding the Jeep at gunpoint, his participation in the detention of the Jeep's occupants did not lead to the discovery of any evidence. Instead, Officer Marlow left the detention of the occupants to the other officers, retrieved his drug detection dog, and led his dog around the Jeep.”
Procedural preferences
In Social Security appeals she applies the standard deferential substantial-evidence review, consistently affirming the agency in this sample's contested appeals and remanding only where the parties agreed to a sentence-four remand or a clear evidentiary gap existed.
“the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment ... and GRANTS the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment ... The decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED.”
On screening review of pro se complaints, she lets a plausibly-pleaded claim proceed while trimming legally unavailable claims (e.g., statutes with no private right of action, conspiracy claims pleaded only in conclusory fashion), rather than dismissing a complaint wholesale.
“the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff's claim under 42 U.S.C. Section 1985(3) be dismissed ... allow his employment discrimination claims to proceed beyond the initial screening phase.”
Cautions
She enforces default-judgment procedure strictly in collective actions: even where defendants have defaulted and failed to appear, she will not recommend judgment on behalf of an opt-in plaintiff whose specific allegations were never actually pleaded in the complaint.
“the Amended Complaint does not include any allegations about Nicole Menard, 'so there are no well-pleaded allegations as to [her] that can be deemed as admitted by Defendants.'”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the Court DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 19] and GRANTS the Commissioner's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 22]. The decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED.”
“the Court finds the Joint Motion for Entry of Judgment with Remand under Sentence Four of 42 U.S.C. Section 405(g) [Doc. 16] is GRANTED. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 13] is hereby DENIED AS MOOT. Accordingly, this case is REMANDED pursuant to sentence four of 42 U.S.C. Section 405(g).”
“The R&R recommends that the Court dismiss Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Conduent Business Services, LLC, and Comerica, Inc., and allow Plaintiff's claims against Defendants Comerica Bank and Direct Express Payment Processing Service to proceed.”
“it is hereby RECOMMENDED that Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. Section 2412 [Doc. 21] be GRANTED, and a judgment awarding Plaintiff the amount of $3,705.30 in attorney's fees pursuant to the EAJA be entered.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS that the District Judge deny Plaintiffs' Motion for Default Judgment [Doc. 29] without prejudice to renew and sua sponte grant Plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint that includes the claims of the opt-in Plaintiff.”
“The undersigned RECOMMENDS that the District Judge DISMISS Plaintiff's claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. Section 1985(3), the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and 18 U.S.C. Section 241, but allow his employment discrimination claims to proceed beyond the initial screening phase.”
“The Report ultimately recommends that the undersigned deny the Motion [Doc. 60] because Defendant's prior criminal 'history shows he is dangerous' ... the Court (1) ADOPTS and ACCEPTS the Report's recommendation [Doc. 87], (2) OVERRULES Defendant's Objections [Doc. 88], and (3) DENIES Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 60].”
“The Court therefore GRANTS Defendant Michael Alexander Mahone's Unopposed Motion to Continue Trial and Pretrial Deadlines [Doc. 96].”
“The Court hereby GRANTS in part defendant's motion to suppress [Doc. 56]. Because the evidence seized from the Jeep is not fruit of defendant's arrest, it is not suppressed. However, the currency seized from defendant's person is suppressed.”
“the Court agrees with Judge McCook's recommendation and reasoning, which the Court adopts and incorporates into its ruling. Accordingly, the Court ACCEPTS IN WHOLE the R&R [Doc. 57]. Defendant's motion to dismiss for improper venue [Doc. 30] is DENIED.”
“the undersigned respectfully RECOMMENDS that the District Judge deny Defendant's Scales Motion and Memorandum to Suppress Evidence Seized at 9310 Aldergate Way, Apt. #4107 [Doc. 132] ... the undersigned concludes, however, that the evidence seized in the execution of the search warrant need not be suppressed because the officers relied on the search warrant in good faith.”
“the undersigned respectfully RECOMMENDS that the District Judge deny ... Defendant Davis's Motion and Memorandum of Law to Suppress Evidence Seized as the Result of a Traffic Stop [Doc. 134].”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Her consent-jurisdiction civil docket is dominated by Social Security disability appeals, with a secondary vein of personal-injury and premises-liability suits, employment/civil-rights cases, contract disputes, and insurance-coverage cases, several inherited from her predecessor's docket when she took the bench.
Put Judge McCook's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge McCook actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge McCook's own signed orders and cites them.