Robert F. Castañeda
How Judge Castañeda rules, drawn from 8 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Castañeda
Robert F. Castañeda has served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the El Paso Division of the Western District of Texas since 2011. Earlier in his career, he represented federal criminal defendants as an assistant federal public defender. His judicial work includes criminal matters, Social Security appeals, and civil cases handled with the parties' consent.
Judge Castañeda's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Castañeda's own (checked October 8, 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 8, 2026).
- Standing Order Regarding Joint or Unopposed Request to Change Deadlines ↗
- Order Regarding Procedures for the Filing, Service and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- General Order Regarding Electronic Filing of Transcripts ↗
- Standing Order Regarding Attorney Admissions and CLE Requirements ↗
- Privacy Policy and Public Access to Electronic Files ↗
- Standing Order Regarding the Electronic Submission of Sealed Civil Documents ↗
How Judge Castañeda decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Cacho v. Live Transfers, Castañeda recommended default judgment for $49,902 rather than the $50,047 requested because he excluded $145 in service fees. The district judge adopted that recommendation.
“Judge Castañeda concludes that Plaintiff isn’t entitled to the $145 in service fees that he demands.”
In the cited Social Security appeal, Castaneda found that the claimant’s unexplained assertion about missing medical records did not establish prejudice.
“Her mere assertion that she was harmed because the ALJ did not have her complete medical records, without further explanation as to what the additional records would contain and how they might contribute to a different outcome, is not enough to establish prejudice.”
In Camacho v. United States, Castañeda granted summary judgment as to the plaintiff’s January 14 arrest and January 19 detention, but denied it as to the January 15 arrest and the detention until the magistrate judge’s January 19 order.
“the Court is of the opinion that Defendant’s motion should be GRANTED as to Plaintiff’s arrest on January 14th and his detention on January 19th, but that it should be DENIED as to Plaintiff’s arrest on January 15th and his detention from that time until he was ordered detained by the Magistrate Judge on January 19th.”
Procedural preferences
In Williams-Bey v. Capital One, Castañeda found the plaintiff's supplemental fee waiver form insufficient because it left his assets unclear and was not sworn under penalty of perjury. He ordered a complete, sworn form by October 24, 2025.
“Based on Plaintiff’s responses, the Court is unable to discern whether Plaintiff has no assets, or whether information concerning existing assets is simply being withheld.”
Cautions
In Davis v. Stidham, he found that the father could bring his children's claims as their representative but had not shown that he could litigate those claims himself without counsel. He allowed a short stay for the father to obtain counsel.
“Davis has not identified any state or federal law justifying a departure from the common-law rule, such that his children's Section 1983 claims could be said to ‘belong’ to him... Thus, Davis has not met his burden to prove he should be permitted to plead and conduct his children's case pro se.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Judge Castaneda recommends that the District Court grant Defendant's motion, thereby reversing and remanding this cause to allow the Commissioner to conduct further proceedings pursuant to the fourth sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)... IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commissioner's decision is REVERSED.”
“For the following reasons, Plaintiffs' Motion is GRANTED... The Court FURTHER ORDERS the Clerk of the Court to docket Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint.”
“Judge Castañeda agrees that Plaintiff is entitled to $4,500 in damages for Defendant's alleged TCPA violations, $45,000 in damages for Defendant's alleged violations of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, and $402 for filing fees... Judge Castañeda concludes that Plaintiff isn't entitled to the $145 in service fees that he demands... The Court thereby GRANTS ‘Plaintiff's Motion for Default Judgment’ (ECF No. 29) IN PART.”
In Williams-Bey v. Capital One, the plaintiff's supplemental fee waiver application gave no usable financial details and struck the penalty-of-perjury language. Castañeda ordered another complete, sworn form by October 24, 2025; the order did not decide the application.
“A plaintiff is not entitled to the appointment of counsel merely because, after considering the costs of litigation, he has determined that he would prefer that the Court bear his legal expenses. The Court therefore declines to appoint counsel.”
“the Court will grant a fourteen-day stay of the minors' claims, during which Davis may attempt to recruit counsel.”
“RECOMMENDS ‘Defendant Alejandra Najera’s Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss,’ ECF No. 25, be GRANTED IN PART, DENIED IN PART, and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART;”
“RECOMMENDS ‘Defendant Ernesto Cantu’s Rule 12(b)(6) and Rule 21 Motion to Dismiss,’ ECF No. 27, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART;”
“RECOMMENDS ‘Defendant Jeffrey Cottrill’s Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss,’ ECF No. 28, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART;”
“RECOMMENDS the ‘Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss Filed by Defendants Mr. Frankie Gray and Dr. Dionel Waters,’ ECF No. 30, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART;”
“RECOMMENDS Defendant ‘Brett Stidham’s Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss,’ ECF No. 32, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED AS MOOT IN PART;”
“ORDERS Plaintiff Lance Davis’s ‘Motion for Leave to Amend,’ ECF No. 68, filed August 30, 2024 be STRICKEN;”
“ORDERS Plaintiff Lance Davis’s ‘Motion to Withdraw Pending Motion for Leave to Amend,’ ECF No. 98, filed December 17, 2025, is GRANTED;”
“ORDERS Plaintiffs Lance and Journey Davis’s ‘Opposed Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint,’ ECF No. 99, filed December 17, 2025, is DENIED;”
“ORDERS Plaintiffs Lance and Journey Davis’s ‘Motion to Substitute Proposed Amended Complaint Attached to ECF No. 99,’ ECF No. 102, filed January 7, 2026, is DENIED;”
“ORDERS Plaintiffs Lance and Journey Davis’s ‘Second Opposed Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Exhibit in Support of Second Amended Complaint Attached to ECF No. 99,’ ECF No. 106, filed January 20, 2026, is DENIED;”
“ORDERS Plaintiffs Lance and Journey Davis’s ‘Notice and Motion for Judicial Notice of Corporate Status Evidence and Short Brief on Clark Factors (Eleventh Amendment),’ ECF No. 116, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART;”
“In light of the foregoing, the Motion, ECF No. 15, is GRANTED AS MODIFIED.”
“the Court RECOMMENDS Rovat’s Motion for Summary Judgment be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The caseload observations come from the civil matters represented below and one criminal-duty case reviewed to confirm the nature of Judge Castañeda's direct assignments.
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 | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
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 U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, not for Judge Castañeda: 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 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Closed with no court action | 1,171 | 5.5 months |
| Closed before pretrial | 2,115 | 7.5 months |
| Closed during or after pretrial | 366 | 14 months |
| Closed during trial | 39 | 30.6 months |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 3,691 | 7.7 months |
| Sep 2024 | 3,440 | 7.8 months |
| Sep 2023 | 3,823 | 7.2 months |
| Sep 2022 | 3,633 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2021 | 3,178 | 8 months |
| Sep 2020 | 2,990 | 6.4 months |
| Sep 2019 | 2,854 | 7.1 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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