David Alan Ezra

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas district Appointed by Ronald Reagan (Republican) 11 signed orders read

How Judge Ezra decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

In high-profile enforcement and constitutional cases, grants the government's motion for a preliminary injunction where it makes the required showing (e.g., enjoining enforcement of a challenged state statute).

“Having considered the parties' briefing and the relevant law, the Court will preliminarily enjoin Defendants from enforcing SB 4.”

Procedural preferences

On a Rule 12 motion parses the claims and grants in part / denies in part, preserving claims (such as retaliation) that are adequately pleaded.

“Defendant ACC's Partial Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. (Dkt. # 12.) ... The Motion is DENIED as to Hellman's retaliation claim.”

Cautions

Denies emergency stay applications that seek federal interference with ongoing state-court proceedings.

“It is therefore ORDERED that Petitioner Natin Paul's Emergency Application for a Stay of the State Trial Court's Criminal Contempt Order (ECF No. 3) is DENIED.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jaitley
1:21-cv-00832-DAE · 2024-12-12
Motion for final judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“the Court ADOPTS Magistrate Judge Mark Lane's Report and Recommendation (Dkt. # 83) as the opinion of the Court and GRANTS the SEC's Motion for Final Judgment and Remedies Against Defendant Jaitley. (Dkt. # 79.)”

Natin Paul v. Soifer
1:24-cv-01271-DAE · 2024-11-07
Motion for stay (petitioner) Denied

“It is therefore ORDERED that Petitioner Natin Paul's Emergency Application for a Stay of the State Trial Court's Criminal Contempt Order (ECF No. 3) is DENIED.”

Hellman v. Austin Community College District
1:23-cv-01436-DAE · 2025-02-18
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“Defendant ACC's Partial Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. (Dkt. # 12.) ... The Motion is DENIED as to Hellman's retaliation claim.”

United States v. Abbott
1:23-cv-00853-DAE · 2023-09-06
Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Granted

“Having considered the parties' arguments, including those in writing, the evidence presented, and the relevant law, the Court GRANTS the United States' Motion for Preliminary Injunction for the reasons that follow. (Dkt. # 5.)”

United States v. State of Texas (consol. with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center v. McCraw)
1:24-cv-00008-DAE · 2024-02-29
Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Granted

“Having considered the parties' briefing and the relevant law, the Court will preliminarily enjoin Defendants from enforcing SB 4.”

Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Colmenero (later Paxton)
1:23-cv-00917-DAE · 2023-08-31
Preliminary injunction (plaintiff) Granted in part

“the Court -- for reasons that follow -- GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion as to their First Amendment claims and GRANTS the motion in part as to their Section 230 claims. Defendant Colmenero is preliminarily ENJOINED from enforcing H.B. 1181.”

Horseshoe Bay Resort Holdings, LLC v. U.S. Small Business Administration
1:24-cv-00040-DAE · 2025-09-15
Summary judgment (defendant) Granted

“the Court GRANTS Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 36)”

Summary judgment (plaintiff) Denied

“DENIES Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 37)”

Pehrson v. Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Company
1:24-cv-01180-DAE · 2025-06-27
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“the Court ADOPTS the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge (Dkt. # 61) and GRANTS Defendants' motions to dismiss (Dkt. ## 30, 31, 33)”

United States v. Quam
1:23-cv-00043-DAE · 2026-02-19
Summary judgment (plaintiff) Granted

“GRANTS the Government's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 52)”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“DENIES Quam's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. # 53)”

United States v. Quam (Hoppe)
1:23-cv-00043-DAE · 2025-09-17
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“DENIES Pro Se Defendant Eric Hoppe's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. # 42)”

Best Glide Aviation Survival Equipment, Inc. v. Tag-Z, LLC
1:23-cv-01080-DAE · 2025-08-20
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted in part

“DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Counts 1, 2 and 3 remain.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The reviewed Austin and San Antonio matters are diverse, while the newest filings are dominated by 2026 immigration-detention habeas petitions. Timing observations therefore come from terminated civil cases filed from 2021 through 2024; the roughly twenty-six reviewed dockets are not a complete census.

Put Judge Ezra's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Ezra actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Ezra's own signed orders and cites them.