Victor Roberto Garcia
How Judge Garcia rules, drawn from 1 signed order. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Garcia no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Garcia
Victor Roberto Garcia joined the Western District of Texas as a United States magistrate judge in 2003. Before taking the bench in Del Rio, he practiced law and served as Val Verde County Attorney.
How Judge Garcia decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Social Security appeals, Garcia applied the Fifth Circuit's Stone v. Heckler severity standard rigorously at step two, but affirmed the agency where the ALJ correctly cited that standard (or its SSR 85-28 equivalent per Keel v. Saul) and the record supported only mild functional limitations.
“The ALJ's conclusion at step two that Plaintiff's depression and anxiety are not severe is supported by substantial evidence.”
On a retaliation claim, disputing the underlying facts of an adverse employment decision is not enough to show pretext: the plaintiff must show the decision would not have been made but for the protected activity.
“'[d]isputing the facts underlying the employment decision does not demonstrate pretext.'”
Procedural preferences
On his consent Social Security docket, once a sentence-four reversal and remand is warranted, Garcia has granted the claimant's unopposed follow-on motion for attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
“ORDER GRANTING 27 Motion for Attorney Fees Pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C Sect. 2412. Signed by Judge Victor R. Garcia.”
Cautions
In Union Pacific Railroad Company v. United States, he denied the government's partial motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction as moot. The order recorded a procedural disposition without deciding that motion on the merits.
“ORDER DENYING AS MOOT Motion to Dismiss [in Part Plaintiff's Original Complaint for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction] Signed by Judge Victor R. Garcia.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“The Court hereby finds the Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED and ADOPTED, the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's objections to the Report and Recommendation are OVERRULED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- Garcia's docket is dominated by his criminal magistrate duty for the Del Rio Division (a Border Patrol sector corridor), which does not generate classifiable civil motions.
- His civil footprint is a modest, steady run of consent-track Social Security appeals plus occasional other civil matters; several of the older Social Security appeals' terminal orders are not retained with text in the public docket record.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Garcia was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of March 31, 2023.
| 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 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 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.
A historical record
Judge Garcia no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.