An administrative order issued by the Chief United States District Judge of Pennsylvania’s Western District has indicated that several civil cases, initially assigned to Judge Stephanie L. Haines in Johnstown, will be transferred to other judges.

The order was issued on Dec. 30 by Chief Judge Cathy Bisson.

Bisson stated in her order that the reassignment of cases was due to “exceptional circumstances.”

Attempts to contact Bisson by phone and email for an explanation of the phrase “exceptional circumstances” have been unsuccessful; however, the Johns­town Division of the Western District has been receiving a large number of petitions from attorneys representing inmates of the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, which is a detention facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Within the past two and a half months, more than 150 petitions have been filed on behalf of the Moshannon Valley Center residents.

The petitions, while not available for public review, indicate many residents of the center are protesting their detainment and are seeking their release from custody.

Some of the petitions have requested temporary restraining orders barring removal from the United States.

Bisson stated in her order that the District Court’s Civil Case Management Committee concurred with her decision to transfer some existing civil actions from Haines to other judges.

One of the cases involved in the reassignment order involves a lawsuit brought on behalf of a former parolee from Blair County who is seeking damages for her treatment while under supervision by county employees.

The lawsuit is at the stage where a judge must decide whether to dismiss civil charges against employees or permit the case to proceed to trial.

Bisson reassigned the case to herself.

The administrative order did not list which of Haines’ cases will be resigned, but noted the reassignment to other judges will become part of the public record of each case.

The cases “will be assigned and fairly redistributed to United States Judges resident in the Pittsburgh Division,” according to the order.

District judges in western Pennsylvania preside over federal cases filed in Johnstown, Pittsburgh and Erie.

The Western District includes 20 district judges, senior district judges and magistrate judges.

As the Moshannon Valley inmate petitions are filed, they are assigned for review by a magistrate judge.

In the past week, for instance, immigrant cases have been assigned to Magistrate Judges Christopher Brown, Kezia O.I. Taylor and Patricia Dodge in Pittsburgh.

However, the bulk of the immigrant cases are initially assigned to Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto, who presides in Johnstown.

He is a former Blair County assistant district attorney.

Haines at the moment is the only district judge assigned to Johnstown. Longtime Judge Kim R. Gibson served there for many years with Haines prior to his death in April of last year.

The petitions filed by the Moshannon Valley Center residents dramatically increased the number of new cases in Johnstown.

There were 587 new cases in 2025, compared to the previous four years in which the numbers were 309, 318, 249 and 221.

The reassignment of Haines’ cases was implemented by Bisson “in furtherance of the continued sound management of the Court’s dockets and to continue to facilitate the just determination of every proceeding,” the order stated.

The number of new cases filed in Johnstown through the first two weeks of the new year is 55.

All but nine involve immigrant rights.