Joe B. Brown
Judge Brown no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Brown decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
He strictly enforces the summary-judgment rules -- Federal Rule 56 and Local Rule 56.01's concise-statement-of-facts requirement -- and will not rule on a deficient motion, even from a pro se party: he warns the parties, sends them the local rules, and then recommends denying non-compliant motions without prejudice so they can be refiled correctly rather than reaching the merits of a defective filing.
“the Court cannot rule on a deficient Motion ... the Magistrate Judge declines to consider these Motions under FED. R. CIV. P. 56 and recommends that the Motions be denied for failure to comply with Federal and Local Rules.”
He polices subject-matter jurisdiction on his own initiative and enforces the 30-day removal deadline: where a removing party shows no basis for federal jurisdiction, he raises the defect sua sponte (after notice and an opportunity to respond) and recommends remand rather than letting a jurisdictionally defective case proceed.
“even if there were original jurisdiction in this case, the Defendant has waited far beyond the 30 days allowed by law to remove this case ... it appears that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and, therefore, lacks jurisdiction to proceed further, except to remand this case.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Magistrate Judge recommends that the Court dismiss Plaintiff's cause of action, without prejudice, for failure to prosecute and obey Court orders.”
“the Magistrate Judge RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff's Motions for Summary Judgment (Docket Entry 10 and 67) ... be DENIED without prejudice for failure to comply with the Rules and Court Orders.”
“Defendant Richardson's Motions to Dismiss (Docket Entry 15; 18; and 24) ... be DENIED without prejudice for failure to comply with the Rules and Court Orders.”
“the Magistrate Judge recommends that the motion for partial summary judgment be denied.”
“the Magistrate Judge recommends that this case be REMANDED for lack of federal subject matter jurisdiction.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
His assigned docket reflects a referral and duty magistrate's mix: criminal-duty matters such as search-warrant and seizure applications, alongside a body of consent civil cases the parties agreed to have him decide -- Title VII and Fair Labor Standards Act employment disputes, diversity contract actions, and product-liability and personal-injury suits. On the consent cases that produced a contested ruling, the sampled outcomes split fairly evenly across grants and denials, with several mixed dispositions, and the defense prevailed on the employment summary-judgment motions. The substantive reports and recommendations he wrote on referral sit on the district judges' dockets.
A historical record
Judge Brown 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.