Editing United States District Court (section)

=== Magistrate Judges ===
In the United States District Courts, magistrate judges are [[wikipedia:Judge|judges]] appointed to assist District Court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set [[wikipedia:Bail|bail]], and conduct other administrative duties. The position of "magistrate judge" or "[[wikipedia:Magistrate|magistrate]]" also exists in some other jurisdictions, where the position may also be known by its former name of "judicial commissioner".

Magistrate judges are appointed by a majority vote of the federal district judges of the District Court. The exact means by which magistrates are appointed has varied thoughout the history of the United States.

==== Role ====
The magistrate judge's seat is not a separate court; the authority that a magistrate judge exercises is the [[wikipedia:Jurisdiction|jurisdiction]] of the district court itself, delegated to the magistrate judge by the district judges of the court under governing statutory authority, local rules of court, or court orders.  Rather than fixing the duties of magistrate judges nationwide, the Federal Magistrates Act allows each district court to assign duties to the magistrate judges as fits the needs of that court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fedbar.org/PDFs/A-Guide-to-the-Federal-Magistrate-Judge-System.aspx?FT=.pdf|title=A Guide to the Federal Magistrate Judge System|first=Peter G.|last=McCabe|date=August 2014|publisher=[[Federal Bar Association]]|location=Arlington, Virginia|access-date=2015-06-26}}</ref>

In criminal proceedings, magistrate judges preside over [[wikipedia:Misdemeanor|misdemeanor]] and petty offense cases, and as to all criminal cases (felony and misdemeanor) may issue [[wikipedia:Search_warrant|search warrants]], [[wikipedia:Arrest_warrant|arrest warrants]], and [[wikipedia:Summons|summonses]], accept criminal complaints, conduct initial appearance proceedings and detention [[wikipedia:Hearing_(law)|hearings]], set [[wikipedia:Bail|bail]] or other conditions of release or detention, hold [[wikipedia:Preliminary_hearing|preliminary hearings]] and examinations, administer [[wikipedia:Oath|oaths]], conduct [[wikipedia:Extradition|extradition]] proceedings, and conduct evidentiary hearings on [[wikipedia:Motion_to_suppress|motions to suppress]] evidence in felony cases for issuance of reports and recommendations to the district judge.

The Supreme Court has held in ''[[wikipedia:Peretz_v._United_States|Peretz v. United States]]'' that magistrate judges may supervise the [[wikipedia:Jury_selection|jury selection]] in a felony trial unless a [[wikipedia:Party_(law)|party]] objects.<ref>''Peretz v. United States'', 501 U.S. 923 (1991) (Magistrates may supervise jury selection for a felony trial with consent of the parties).</ref>

In civil proceedings, magistrate judges typically manage [[wikipedia:Discovery_(law)|discovery]] and other pretrial matters. They are authorized to issue [[wikipedia:Court_order|orders]] in pretrial matters as long as the order is not [[wikipedia:Dispositive_motion|dispositive]] of the case as a whole (for example, an order granting [[wikipedia:Summary_judgment|summary judgment]] is not within their purview). They may also be assigned to write reports and recommendations to the district judge as to dispositive matters. With the consent of the parties, they may [[wikipedia:Adjudication|adjudicate]] civil cases in the same manner as a district judge, including presiding over jury or non-jury trials.

==== Relation to Article-III judiciary ====
Because [[wikipedia:Article_III_of_the_United_States_Constitution|Article III of the United States Constitution]] vests the judicial powers in courts to which the judges are appointed for life (and which are therefore called Article III tribunals), decisions of a magistrate judge are subject to review and either approval, modification or reversal by a district judge of that court &#x2013; except in civil cases where the parties consent in advance to allow the magistrate judge to exercise the jurisdiction of the district judge, and in which case appeals from the decision of the magistrate judge are heard by the United States Court of Appeals.  The magistrate judges therefore operate under the authority of Congress to appoint "inferior courts", set forth in [[wikipedia:Article_I_of_the_United_States_Constitution|Article I]], making them [[wikipedia:Article_I_tribunals|Article I]] judges.<ref name="Baker-Expanding">{{cite journal|first=Tim A.|last=Baker|title=The Expanding Role of Magistrate Judges in the Federal Courts|journal=Valparaiso University Law Review|volume=39|pages=661–692|url=http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1248&context=vulr|date=2005|access-date=August 11, 2022}}</ref>

The Supreme Court most thoroughly delineated the permissible scope of Article I tribunals in ''[[wikipedia:Northern_Pipeline_Construction_Co._v._Marathon_Pipe_Line_Co.|Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.]]'',<ref>''[[Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.]]'', [[Case citation|458 U.S. 50]] (1982).</ref> striking down the [[wikipedia:Statute|statute]] that created the original U.S. bankruptcy court. The Court held in that opinion that the framers of the Constitution had developed a scheme of [[wikipedia:Separation_of_powers|separation of powers]] which clearly required that the [[wikipedia:Judicial_branch|judicial branch]] be kept independent of the other two branches via the mechanism of lifetime appointments. However, the Court also found that Congress has the power under Article I to create ''adjunct tribunals'', so long as the "essential attributes of judicial power" stay in Article III courts. This power derives from two sources. First, when Congress ''creates'' rights, it can require those asserting such rights to go through an Article I tribunal. Second, Congress can create non-Article III tribunals to help Article III courts deal with their workload, but only if the Article I tribunals are under the control of the Article III courts.  The magistrate judges fall within this category of "adjunct" tribunals.  All actions heard in an Article I tribunal are subject to [[wikipedia:Trial_de_novo|''de novo'' review]] in the supervising Article III court, which retains the exclusive power to make and enforce final judgments.<ref name="Baker-Expanding" />

The Supreme Court later stated, in ''[[wikipedia:Commodity_Futures_Trading_Commission_v._Schor|Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor]]'',<ref>''[[Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor]]'', [[Case citation|478 U.S. 833]] (1986).</ref> that parties to litigation could voluntarily waive their right to an Article III tribunal, and thereby submit themselves to a binding judgment from an Article I tribunal.