John Thomas Copenhaver Jr.
How Judge Copenhaver rules, drawn from 22 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Copenhaver no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Copenhaver
John Thomas Copenhaver, Jr. was a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Appointed by President Gerald Ford, Judge Copenhaver received a commission on September 3, 1976. Judge Copenhaver assumed senior status on November 1, 2018 and served until death on May 12, 2026.
How Judge Copenhaver decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In a state-habeas case where the respondent's first motion to dismiss was denied without prejudice to let the petitioner amend, the judge held the government to its renewed burden on the amended petition rather than treating the earlier denial as settling the matter, and granted dismissal only after that fresh round of briefing.
“adopting the 24 Proposed Findings and Recommendations by Magistrate Judge Aboulhosn; granting Petitioner's 22 MOTION to Amend 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2241) ... denying without prejudice Respondent's 10 MOTION to Dismiss and for Summary Judgment; referring this matter to the magistrate judge for further proceedings.”
On a coverage dispute, the judge resolved the cross-motions for summary judgment by reading both the homeowners and auto policies against the specific facts alleged, rather than deciding the duty to defend on the pleadings alone, and found no coverage under either policy.
“granting 17 CROSS MOTION by Nationwide General Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company of America for Summary Judgment against Belcher and S.R.; and denying 15 MOTION by Teddy D. Belcher, Jr. for Summary Judgment; finding that Nationwide has no duty to defend or indemnify Belcher under either the Homeowners Policy or the Auto Policy, as set forth more fully herein.”
Procedural preferences
In Morrison v. Standard Insurance Co., Copenhaver remanded a disability-benefits dispute after finding that the insurer had not met its heavy burden to prove fraudulent joinder of a non-diverse state agency. He declined to conduct an extensive factual inquiry into insurance coverage at the jurisdictional stage.
“the court is constrained to conclude that Standard Insurance has failed to satisfy its ‘heavy burden’ in proving fraudulent joinder ... it is not immediately apparent whether the State’s liability insurance coverage precludes them as well. To permit extensive inquiry on that issue at this stage of the litigation would thwart the purpose of the jurisdictional rules.”
In Alderman v. ADT, LLC, Copenhaver granted a remand motion in part: he sent Count IV to state court while retaining Counts I through III. He denied the plaintiff's request for removal-related fees and costs in light of that disposition.
“granting in part and denying in part Plaintiff's 5 MOTION to Remand; directing that Count IV of plaintiff's complaint is remanded to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County; this Court will maintain jurisdiction over Counts I, II, and III; denying plaintiff's request for attorney's fees and costs in view of this disposition.”
In Warren v. Cruzin Auto Carriers, LLC, he set aside a clerk's entry of default after the defendant appeared through counsel and moved promptly to correct a late answer.
“granting Cruzin's 32 Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default; the Clerk's 29 Entry of Default is set aside”
In Hager v. Kijakazi, he adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation, granted the claimant's request for remand, and reversed the Commissioner's denial of benefits.
“adopting the 9 Proposed Findings and Recommendations; granting Plaintiff's 6 Request for Remand; denying Commissioner's 7 Request for Judgment on the Pleadings; the decision of the Commissioner is reversed and remanded”
Cautions
In Young v. Cook, he denied an insurer's motion to exclude late-disclosed fact witnesses after finding the disclosure deadline ambiguous and noting that the witnesses were named nearly two months before discovery closed.
“in light of the potential ambiguity, the court declines to find the March 15, 2011, disclosure untimely. It came nearly two months in advance of the close of discovery, without a clear deadline having been previously established for Rule 26(a)(1) disclosures.”
In Kruk v. Hale, Copenhaver dismissed a civil action challenging state family-court rulings. He adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation and held that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine deprived the court of subject-matter jurisdiction.
“The court agrees with the determination that, pursuant to the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, there is no subject matter jurisdiction over this matter. Thus, the complaint is dismissed on that ground.”
In Goard v. Ames, he denied a habeas petitioner's two requests for a stay and abeyance in the same order that dismissed the petition after adopting the magistrate judge's recommendation.
“the 18 MOTION by Jordan J. Goard for Stay and Abeyance and 23 MOTION by Jordan J. Goard for Stay and Abeyance re: 2 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2254) are DENIED”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“granting in part and denying in part Plaintiff's 5 MOTION to Remand; directing that Count IV of plaintiff's complaint is remanded to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County; this Court will maintain jurisdiction over Counts I, II, and III; denying plaintiff's request for attorney's fees and costs in view of this disposition.”
“directing that the plaintiff's 9 MOTION to Remand Case to Circuit Court of Kanawha County is granted; the plaintiff's 18 Amended Complaint is remanded to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia.”
“granting Plaintiff's 6 Request for Remand; denying Commissioner's 7 Request for Judgment on the Pleadings; the decision of the Commissioner is reversed and remanded and this case is dismissed from the docket of this Court.”
“the 14 MOTION by Donnie Ames to Dismiss 2 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and for Summary Judgment is GRANTED”
“the 18 MOTION by Jordan J. Goard for Stay and Abeyance and 23 MOTION by Jordan J. Goard for Stay and Abeyance re: 2 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (2254) are DENIED”
“granting 17 CROSS MOTION by Nationwide General Insurance Company, Nationwide Insurance Company of America for Summary Judgment against Belcher and S.R. ... finding that Nationwide has no duty to defend or indemnify Belcher under either the Homeowners Policy or the Auto Policy”
“denying 15 MOTION by Teddy D. Belcher, Jr. for Summary Judgment”
“adopting the 14 Proposed Findings and Recommendations; denying Plaintiff's 1 Application to Proceed Without Prepayment of Fees and Costs; denying Plaintiff's 5 Motion for Emergency Temporary Restraining Order; granting Defendant's 7 Motion to Dismiss and this action is dismissed.”
“directing that the 5 Request to Reverse the Commissioner's decision be denied; the 8 Request to Affirm be granted and this case be dismissed from the docket of this Court.”
“granting Cruzin's 32 Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default; the Clerk's 29 Entry of Default is set aside”
“adopting the 6 Proposed Findings and Recommendations; denying the Petitioner's 1 Habeas Petition and dismisses without prejudice this action from the docket.”
“Plaintiff's 9 Request to Reverse the decision is denied; Defendant's 10 Request to Affirm the decision is granted; the final decision of the Commissioner is affirmed and this matter is dismissed and stricken from the docket.”
“MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER denying Plaintiffs' 5 MOTION to Remand to Circuit Court as more fully set forth herein.”
“granting in part and denying in part without prejudice Defendant's 26 MOTION to Strike Plaintiffs' Expert Witnesses, as set forth herein.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
- The sampled caseload includes diversity personal-injury and product-liability suits removed from state court, employment and insurance-coverage disputes, Social Security disability appeals, federal criminal prosecutions proceeding largely by guilty plea, and a substantial volume of federal detainee (28 U.S.C.
- Section 2241) and state-prisoner (28 U.S.C.
- Section 2254 and Section 2255) habeas and post-conviction matters.
- Motions to remand recur often in the removed diversity and employment cases, reflecting a docket drawn heavily from Kanawha County state-court filings.
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 | 2 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2025 | 4 | 3 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 | 6 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 9 | 7 |
| Sep 2023 | 20 | 8 |
| Mar 2023 | 22 | 8 |
| Sep 2022 | 16 | 8 |
| Mar 2022 | 13 | 8 |
| Sep 2021 | 14 | 8 |
| Mar 2021 | 21 | 7 |
| Sep 2020 | 5 | 8 |
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 Copenhaver no longer hears cases. 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.