David Steven Morales
How Judge Morales decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
He reads the exhaustion record closely and will find a claim exhausted where it was 'fairly presented' to the state courts -- even under a misleading brief header -- and will hold the State to an express waiver of the exhaustion defense. A well-supported objection can flip his magistrate's recommendation.
“What matters is that Petitioner fairly presented his claim for resolution to the Court of Appeals, not whether the Court of Appeals ultimately resolved it.”
Procedural preferences
Morales runs an M&R-centric docket: prisoner, habeas, and SSA matters are referred to magistrate judges (Julie K. Hampton, Jason B. Libby) and he resolves them by de novo review of any objections, then adopting (or, where warranted, rejecting) the recommendation. At the summary-judgment stage he will adopt a thorough magistrate recommendation without writing detailed analysis of his own.
“the Fifth Circuit has also authorized district courts to adopt a magistrate's recommendation without providing detailed analysis. See Habets v. Waste Mgmt., Inc., 363 F.3d 378, 382 (5th Cir. 2004) (affirming a district court's two-sentence order adopting a magistrate's recommendation for summary judgment).”
Objections to an M&R must identify specific errors; he will not consider objections that merely re-urge the original briefing or are frivolous/general.
“Objections that merely re-urge arguments contained in the original briefing are not proper and will not be considered.”
Cautions
Exhaustion is dispositive in his habeas docket. A § 2241 petition filed before the agency's response deadline has passed is barred; 'mere substantial compliance' with administrative-remedy procedures does not satisfy exhaustion.
“the Fifth Circuit has held that 'mere substantial compliance' with administrative remedy procedures does not satisfy exhaustion.”
On § 1915A screening of prisoner complaints he enforces the Eleventh Amendment bar on § 1983 official-capacity damages and dismisses claims he finds frivolous or failing to state a claim.
“Plaintiff's remaining Eighth Amendment, due process, and ADA/RA claims ... are DISMISSED with prejudice as frivolous and/or for failure to state a claim for relief.”
Motion outcomes
Counted from classified signed orders only. Percentages are shown only where the sample is large enough to be meaningful; smaller samples are reported as raw counts.
| Summary judgment N = 4 |
Granted: 2Denied: 2 | counts only |
A "1 of 1" is one ruling, not a tendency. Treat small samples as illustrative, not predictive.
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Respondent's motion for summary judgment, (D.E. 9) is GRANTED; (2) Petitioner's 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition, (D.E. 1) is DENIED; and (3) the case is DISMISSED for failure to exhaust.”
“the Court SUSTAINS Petitioner's objection, (D.E. 22), and REJECTS the findings and conclusions of the M&R, (D.E. 21). Accordingly, the Court DENIES Respondent's motion for summary judgment. (D.E. 11).”
“the Court ... DENIES Plaintiff's construed motion for summary judgment, (D.E. 8), and GRANTS Defendant's construed motion for summary judgment, (D.E. 9). The final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED, and the above-entitled action is DISMISSED.”
“the Court ... GRANTS Defendant's construed motion for summary judgment, (D.E. 9). The final decision of the Commissioner is AFFIRMED, and the above-entitled action is DISMISSED.”
Prisoner civil-rights § 1915A screening (NOT a party motion -- excluded from motion stats). Morales adopted MJ Hampton's screening M&R in its entirety (no objection): retained the ADA/Rehabilitation Act official-capacity claims; dismissed the § 1983 official-capacity damages claims as Eleventh-Amendment-barred ('Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims for money damages ... in their official capacities are DISMISSED without prejudice as barred by the Eleventh Amendment.'); and dismissed the remaining Eighth Amendment / due process / ADA-RA individual claims 'as frivolous and/or for failure to state a claim for relief.' Counts as an order read.
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 627 days (N = 3).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 274 days (N = 1).
Qualitative, from GovInfo-read cases + search_dockets. Corpus Christi / Victoria divisions. Heavily prisoner civil-rights (42 U.S.C. § 1983, screened under § 1915A), § 2241 and § 2254 habeas, and Social Security disability appeals -- a pro-se-heavy docket routed through magistrate judges Hampton and Libby. Recent administrative load includes many sealed '-mc-' search/grand-jury matters.