gno.law
John A. Houston
Work of Federal Government · source

John A. Houston

District judge · Superior Court of Southern District of California County · 2005–2026

Judge, District Court, S.D. California 2003–

D+
99% — 505.5 of 513 orders sound, per qwen3.8-27b; in the top 68% of 51 graded judges

On the assumption that the model is right — qwen3.8-27b's verdicts on a court's own orders matched a later appeal 76% of the time (104 of 136), graded on a curve: A is the top fifth of the judges graded under this model, F the bottom fifth; ++ / + / − / −− within the band. How the grade is made.

98cases reviewed on appeal
536opinions authored
551panels sat on (not as author)
23%reversed, in whole or part, of 81 merits decisions

Outcomes on appeal

affirmed 62 reversed in part 8 reversed 7 vacated 4 remanded 2 dismissed 2

The Ninth Circuit's later rulings on their dockets

affirmed 3 reversed in part 2 vacated 1

Each Ninth Circuit opinion that names a docket this judge wrote an order on, by its outcome; the ruling it reviewed is not always the order in the record. The order's page links the opinion.

Areas

criminal 54 civil 41 delinquency 3

By year: 2018 12 · 2011 10 · 2019 9 · 2010 9 · 2020 8 · 2017 8 · 2023 5 · 2016 5 · 2022 4 · 2021 4 · 2013 3 · 2009 3 · 2008 3 · 2007 3 · 2026 2 · 2025 2 · 2012 2 · 2006 2 · 2024 1 · 2015 1 · 2014 1 · 2005 1 ·

Analysis

No analyses yet. When they exist, this shows counts of the model's findings across this judge's reviewed cases — with the court's own dispositions beside them, and only from 10 cases.

Cases

  1. United States v. McFarland 24-4850 · 2026-08-31 · criminal · affirmed
  2. United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez 25-2536 · 2026-03-26 · criminal · affirmed
  3. Willie Grant v. Gary Swarthout 22-55291 · 2025-09-23 · criminal · vacated
  4. United States v. Padilla 23-425 · 2023-11-22 · criminal · affirmed
  5. United States v. Fidel Villarreal 22-50067 · 2023-11-21 · criminal · affirmed
  6. United States v. Jimenez 23-773 · 2023-08-31 · criminal · affirmed
  7. KURT MICHAELS V. RON DAVIS 15-99005 · 2022-10-18 · criminal
  8. United States v. Tyrone Duren 20-50215 · 2022-02-18 · criminal · affirmed
  9. United States v. Pedro Ventura Arroyo 20-50138 · 2021-06-14 · criminal · affirmed
  10. United States v. Alexandro Virgen 20-50153 · 2021-03-25 · criminal · affirmed
  11. United States v. Coleman Payne 19-50159 · 2020-12-08 · criminal · affirmed
  12. United States v. Robert Heizelman 19-50346 · 2020-08-27 · criminal · affirmed
  13. Felipe Gutierrez-Chic v. William Barr 19-55625 · 2020-03-10 · criminal · dismissed
  14. United States v. Maria Acosta 18-50351 · 2019-11-26 · criminal · affirmed
  15. United States v. Arian Cebreros 18-50043 · 2019-10-03 · criminal · affirmed
  16. United States v. Noe Lugo 18-50107 · 2019-08-27 · criminal · remanded
  17. United States v. Josue Martinez-Hernandez 16-50423 · 2019-07-25 · criminal
  18. United States v. Josue Martinez-Hernandez 16-50423 · 2019-01-09 · criminal
  19. United States v. Coleman Payne 17-50223 · 2018-10-15 · criminal · reversed in part
  20. United States v. Flora Espino 16-50344 · 2018-06-18 · criminal · affirmed
  21. United States v. Flora Espino 16-50344 · 2018-06-18 · criminal · affirmed
  22. United States v. Miguel Hurtado Simisterra 16-50463 · 2018-03-30 · criminal · affirmed
  23. United States v. Raul Villarreal 16-50135 · 2018-02-23 · criminal · affirmed
  24. United States v. David Barrera-Valdivia 16-50070 · 2017-04-20 · criminal · affirmed
  25. United States v. Omar Centeno-Sepulveda 15-50135 · 2016-11-01 · criminal · vacated