Graphical Highlights
 
Judge-by-Judge Asylum Decisions by Immigration Court
Fiscal Years 2001 - 2006

Immigration Judge Number Decided Percent Denied (%) National Ranking
New York* William F. Jankun 665 91.6 7
  Sandy K. Hom 1,532 89.7 12
  John Opaciuch 879 87.5 21
  Paul L. Johnston 381 79.3 50
  William C. Peterson 369 77.2 63
  Adam Opaciuch 1,416 72.2 82
  Roxanne C. Hladylowycz 1,518 71.7 84
  Barbara A. Nelson 1,669 70.2 92
  Joseph A. Russelburg 401 69.8 96
  Steven R. Abrams 377 60.7 131
  Gabriel C. Videla 1,168 60.6 134
  Miriam Mills 600 60.3 138
  Paul A. Defonzo 1,388 60.3 138
  Victoria L. Ghartey 645 51.9 165
  Charles M. Honeyman 100 50.0 171
  Jeffrey S. Chase 1,076 49.4 176
  Joanna M. Bukszpan 1,347 48.0 180
  Noel Anne Ferris 939 43.7 189
  Robert D. Weisel 1,677 42.9 193
  Helen J. Sichel 1,514 42.0 197
  Philip L. Morace 2,294 39.6 202
  Matthew T. Adrian 162 37.7 210
  Douglas B. Schoppert 1,989 34.7 215
  Thomas J. Mulligan 236 34.7 215
  Theresa Holmes-Simmons 1,767 31.0 221
  George T. Chew 2,221 29.8 223
  Annette S. Elstein 1,689 28.8 224
  Sarah M. Burr 1,840 28.5 225
  Bridgette Laforest 1,937 28.2 227
  Elizabeth A. Lamb 1,718 25.3 231
  Vivienne E. Gordon-Uru 1,381 22.1 233
  Patricia A. Rohan 1,966 21.9 234
  Noel A. Brennan 810 20.4 237
  William Van Wyke 1,181 14.7 240
  Margaret McManus 1,859 9.9 241
  Terry A. Bain 1,946 9.5 242
Miami* Mahlon F. Hanson 1,388 97.6 1
  John Opaciuch 902 93.6 6
  Adam Opaciuch 306 91.2 9
  Mark H. Metcalf 141 90.8 10
  Rex J. Ford 1,544 90.7 11
  Earle B. Wilson 386 89.6 13
  Denise A. Marks Lane 1,684 88.0 16
  Keith C. Williams 558 87.8 19
  Kevin G. Bradley 1,074 87.8 19
  J. Daniel Dowell 1,372 87.5 21
  Teofilo Chapa 1,413 87.0 24
  Charles J. Sanders 1,421 86.3 28
  Ronald G. Sonom 1,175 82.1 35
  Bruce W. Solow 1,544 81.5 37
  Scott G. Alexander 1,342 79.7 47
  Harold Lloyd King Jr 184 79.3 50
  Nancy R. McCormack 1,360 79.1 52
  Pedro A. Miranda 1,386 78.0 58
  Lilliana Torreh-Bayout 1,630 76.0 71
  Elisa M. Sukkar 1,217 73.0 79
  Seymour R. Kleinfeld 971 70.4 90
  Michael C. Horn 875 70.1 93
  Stephen E. Mander 1,470 69.0 98
  Anthony J. Randall 1,364 62.9 118
  Denise N. Slavin 1,541 38.9 204
  Sandra S. Coleman 1,158 21.8 235
Los Angeles* Christine A. Bither 442 86.7 27
  Jeffrey L. Romig 647 80.8 40
  Lorraine J. Munoz 538 80.5 43
  Thomas Y. K. Fong 403 78.7 57
  Anthony T. Giattina 375 77.6 60
  Jay Segal 351 76.9 67
  Isabel A. Bronzina 610 72.6 80
  Jan D. Latimore 441 70.7 89
  Anna Ho 239 67.4 104
  Ira E. Bank 644 64.0 115
  Margaret R. Reichenber 102 63.7 116
  Richard D. Walton 685 62.5 121
  Henry P. Ipema Jr. 416 61.1 128
  John F. Walsh 938 61.0 130
  John D. Taylor 611 60.6 134
  Patrick T. McDermott 345 60.6 134
  Darlene R. Seligman 162 60.5 135
  Renee L. Renner 484 59.5 145
  Dorothy A. Dunkel-Brad 693 58.7 147
  Rosalind K. Malloy 139 57.6 150
  David C. Anderson 494 54.3 155
  Charles A. Del Bene 328 49.7 173
  Lawrence O. Burman 271 49.4 176
  Christine E. Stancill 723 48.5 178
  William J. Martin, Jr 522 46.0 184
  Ingrid K. Hrycenko 516 45.2 185
  Bruce J. Einhorn 485 40.2 201
  Gilbert T. Gembacz 708 38.8 206
  Gita Vahid-Tehrani 590 38.3 207
  George W. Proctor 266 38.0 209
  Stephen L. Sholomson 663 27.1 229
San Francisco* Anthony S. Murry 527 86.7 27
  Wendell A. Hollis 229 79.5 48
  Robert Yeargin 516 78.7 57
  Brian H. Simpson 698 77.1 64
  Gary W. Smith 122 74.6 75
  Mimi Schooley Yam 341 72.4 81
  Stephen S. Griswold 204 62.7 120
  Edward R. Kandler 743 59.0 146
  Loreto S. Geisse 303 55.8 153
  Beverley M. Phillips 866 53.9 156
  Phan-Quang Tue 671 53.4 158
  Bette Kane Stockton 941 51.3 166
  Paul D. Grussendorf 255 49.4 176
  Polly A. Webber 903 46.2 183
  Marilyn J. Teeter 605 45.1 187
  Lawrence N. DiCostanzo 734 42.8 194
  Alberto E. Gonzalez 939 41.4 198
  Michael J. Yamaguchi 448 39.5 203
  George W. Proctor 104 35.6 212
  Dana Leigh Marks 747 34.8 213
  Laura L. Ramirez 846 31.4 220
  Carol A. King 789 30.8 222
  Miriam R. Hayward 785 26.5 230
Arlington* Joan V. Churchill 733 76.9 67
  Garry D. Malphrus 181 70.7 89
  Wayne R. Iskra 893 61.0 130
  Thomas G. Snow 123 60.2 139
  John M. Bryant 885 59.7 143
  M. Christopher Grant 561 50.4 169
  Paul W. Schmidt 427 33.5 217
Atlanta William A. Cassidy 366 82.5 34
  Wayne K. Houser, Jr 208 81.3 38
  G. MacKenzie Rast 303 80.5 43
  Paul L. Johnston 283 79.2 51
Baltimore* Bruce M. Barrett 1,428 63.2 117
  John F. Gossart, Jr. 1,250 59.6 144
  Jill H. DuFresne 1,304 57.5 151
  Lisa Dornell 1,467 49.8 172
  Elizabeth A. Kessler 142 38.0 209
Bloomington* Kristin W. Olmanson 599 73.0 79
  Joseph R. Dierkes 849 64.7 110
Boston* Thomas M. Ragno 243 85.6 29
  Matthew J. D'Angelo 146 65.1 109
  Leonard I. Shapiro 845 64.4 112
  Francis L. Cramer 311 61.1 128
  Eliza C. Klein 912 58.1 148
  Paul M. Gagnon 373 52.0 164
  Patricia M. B. Sheppar 584 50.2 170
  William P. Joyce 245 38.8 206
Buffalo* Michaelangelo Rocco 202 93.6 6
  Philip J. Montante, Jr 355 77.2 63
Chicago* O. John Brahos 607 70.8 86
  Robert D. Vinikoor 884 69.9 94
  Samuel Der-Yeghiayan 239 67.8 101
  James R. Fujimoto 807 65.1 109
  Craig M. Zerbe 817 55.8 153
  Carlos Cuevas 694 49.0 177
  Jennie L. Giambastiani 417 47.7 181
  Renetta Smith 143 43.4 190
Dallas* Deitrich H. Sims 299 84.3 30
  Cary H. Copeland 888 67.7 102
  Edwin R. Hughes 486 42.0 197
Denver* James P. Vandello 385 61.8 125
  Donn L. Livingston 677 55.2 154
  David J. Cordova 654 50.9 167
Detroit* Marsha K. Nettles 250 89.2 14
  Robert Yeargin 111 87.4 22
  Elizabeth A. Hacker 902 81.5 37
  Miriam Mills 103 77.7 59
  Robert D. Newberry 1,301 70.2 92
  Terry C. Christian 139 60.4 136
El Paso William L. Abbott 109 43.1 191
Elizabeth* Margaret R. Reichenber 471 70.7 89
  Mirlande Tadal 663 67.6 103
  Steven R. Abrams 733 62.1 124
  Esmeralda Cabrera 122 34.4 216
Guaynabo Irma Lopez-Defillo 192 80.2 44
Hagatna Dayna M. Beamer 410 31.5 219
Hartford* Matthew J. D'Angelo 159 69.8 96
  Michael W. Straus 943 69.1 97
  Paul M. Gagnon 191 52.4 162
Honolulu Dayna M. Beamer 309 27.5 228
Houston* Philip S. Law 467 78.8 54
  Jimmie L. Benton 250 76.8 68
  William C. Peterson 270 76.3 69
  Clarease Rankin Yates 416 76.0 71
  William K. Zimmer 430 74.0 76
  Robert Brown 213 60.1 140
Lancaster* Michael A. Kilroy 168 94.0 4
  Robert O. Vicars 139 80.6 41
  William J. Nickerson 195 75.9 72
Las Vegas* Harry L. Gastley 335 77.3 61
  Ronald L. Mullins 173 71.7 84
  Irene Weiss 256 43.0 192
Memphis Charles E. Pazar 1,293 61.1 128
  Lawrence O. Burman 890 59.8 142
Miami - Krome* Neale S. Foster 218 95.0 3
  Scott G. Alexander 170 91.2 9
  Kenneth S. Hurewitz 740 87.2 23
  Denise N. Slavin 102 48.0 180
New Orleans Wayne K. Houser, Jr 182 76.9 67
New York (Varick SPC)* Alan A. Vomacka 574 96.5 2
  Alan L. Page 444 83.8 33
Newark* Eugene Pugliese 652 80.8 40
  Daniel A. Meisner 605 78.7 57
  Henry S. Dogin 1,184 65.5 107
  Esmeralda Cabrera 210 64.3 113
  Annie S. Garcy 813 57.9 149
  Alberto J. Riefkohl 921 36.2 211
  William K. Strasser 398 28.4 226
Oakdale John A. Duck Jr. 108 71.3 85
Orlando* R. Kevin McHugh 180 86.7 27
  Rex J. Ford 139 84.2 31
  Gail B. Padgett 199 79.9 46
  Rafael B. Ortiz-Segura 2,082 50.7 168
  Roberto Moreno 605 45.1 187
  Victoria L. Ghartey 1,024 41.2 199
  Renetta Smith 631 41.0 200
Philadelphia* Donald V. Ferlise 988 88.9 15
  Miriam Mills 461 79.0 53
  Rosalind K. Malloy 1,065 74.9 74
  Charles M. Honeyman 1,008 62.8 119
  Craig DeBernardis 248 52.4 162
  William Van Wyke 120 19.2 238
Phoenix* LaMonte S. Freerks 307 32.9 218
  Dean A. LeVay 144 22.2 232
  John W. Richardson 337 21.7 236
Portland Michael H. Bennett 455 52.7 160
San Antonio Susan E. Conley de Cas 109 53.2 159
  Glenn P. McPhaul 161 52.2 163
San Diego* Kenneth A. Bagley 325 75.4 73
  Joseph M. Ragusa 115 73.0 79
  Zsa Zsa DePaolo 198 67.2 106
  Gaylyn N. Boone 152 64.5 111
  Anthony M. Atenaide 361 64.0 115
  Richard J. Bartolomei, 426 62.4 122
  Ignacio P. Fernandez 260 60.0 141
  John C. Williams 292 44.2 188
  Robert J. Barrett 311 42.4 195
San Pedro D. D. Sitgraves 103 53.4 158
  Rose C. Peters 153 46.4 182
Seattle* Kendall B. Warren 105 83.8 33
  Anna Ho 229 79.9 46
  Victoria E. Young 148 68.9 99
  Edward R. Kandler 351 67.2 106
  Kenneth Josephson 995 62.1 124
Tucson Richard H. Knuck 144 15.3 239
York* Grace A. Sease 237 87.8 19
  Walter A. Durling 351 68.4 100

* Judge-to-judge differences in asylum denial rates within this Immigration Court are "statistically significant" -- that is, unlikely to have arisen by chance where asylum cases are assigned at random among judges. "Unlikely" means there was less than a one in ten thousand (<.0001) chance except for three cities (Bloomingdale, Denver, Phoenix) where the odds were less than 3 out of a thousand. Analysis covers all immigration judges who made at least 100 decisions on the merits for asylum seekers represented by an attorney.

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
Copyright 2007