Ronald Norwood Davies
Judge Davies no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.
How Judge Davies decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Davies treated armed state interference with a federal desegregation order as an unlawful obstruction of constitutional rights and the judicial process.
“Said acts unlawfully obstruct and interfere with the carrying out and effectuation of the Court’s orders of August 28, 1956, and September 3, 1957, contrary to the due and proper administration of justice; and they violate the constitutional rights of said colored children.”
He required regulated parties to exhaust agency procedures before seeking district-court intervention.
“The law appears well-settled that in a case such as this the orderly administration of justice requires the Plaintiff to exhaust its administrative remedies in the first instance”
Procedural preferences
Davies favored disclosure over tactical secrecy when insurance information was relevant to fair case preparation.
“Refusal to require disclosure would help perpetuate ‘the sporting theory of justice’. It is one of the objectives of modern reformed procedure to eliminate it.”
He was reluctant to replace a jury's damages assessment with a trial judge's view absent a verdict that shocked the judicial conscience.
“this Court thinks, as a general rule, it is an illogical theory to supp0Se that a trial judge in the cloistered atmosphere of his chambers can, by some legal legerdemain, better determine the precise amounts to be awarded litigants than a jury of twelve conscientious citizens.”
Cautions
Davies required more than conjecture or suspicion before allowing a criminal conviction to stand.
“This conclusion amounts to nothing more than mere conjecture, speculation, and suspicion of guilt; it falls far short of the required standard of proof necessary to establish all of the elements of the offense charged in the indictment.”
He treated draft-board classifications as reviewable when the administrative record lacked any factual basis for rejecting conscientious-objector status.
“Finding no basis in fact for the refusal of the draft board to classify this defendant as a conscientious objector, I find the defendant not guilty of the offense charged in the indictment.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“defendants’ motion to vacate judgment should be granted, with leave to file separate answers”
“both plaintiff’s motion to strike Paragraph 4 of the separate answer of E. B. Merritt and the motion to dismiss the counterclaim in the separate answer and counterclaim of E. B. Merritt, Inc., should be denied.”
“The minor plaintiffs and other eligible Negro students on whose behalf this suit is brought have no adequate legal remedy and are entitled to a preliminary injunction against Governor Faubus, General Clinger, and Lt. Col. Johnson”
“For the reasons stated herein, defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for & new trial ig denied.”
“plaintiffs herein are entitled to recover from defendant the sum of $2,455.-56 with interest thereon from the 24th day of April, 1957, at 4% per annum until the date of payment, and plaintiffs are further entitled to their costs and disbursements as hereinafter fixed by the Clerk of this Court.”
“the motions of George Harding Bryant, Vance W. Heideman and Stanley V. Kessel, respectively, to vacate and set aside judgment herein, and each of said motions will be denied without oral hearing.”
“Thus, this third motion of Carl Harvey Bistram to vacate sentence and his motion for a plenary hearing thereon, and each motion, is denied.”
“The request of the Plaintiff for an order to show cause directed to the Federal Power Commission and for a restraining order must be, and it is hereby denied.”
“The motion of the Defendants for dismissal of the action for lack of jurisdiction must be and is hereby granted, without costs to any party.”
“The Defendant’s objection to the Plaintiff’s interrogatory is overruled.”
“The defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment because of unreasonable and unnecessary delay is denied.”
“It is further ordered that the motion of Ernest Philip McKay to vacate the sentence imposed upon him October 5, 1962, be and the same is hereby denied.”
“It is ordered that the petition of Wilfred Frank Peoples to vacate the sentence imposed upon him on April 27, 1966, be and the same hereby is, denied.”
“The motion of the third party defendants, Our Own Hardware Company and William Svetin, for summary judgment of dismissal of the third party complaint must be and it is hereby granted.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The twenty-five reviewed decisions cover varied litigation but do not establish the distribution of Davies's full caseload.
A historical record
Judge Davies no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.