John Paul Stevens

“ Equally basic is a defendant's right to have all critical stages of a criminal trial conducted by a person with jurisdiction to preside. Thus harmless-error analysis does not apply in a felony case in which, despite the defendant's objection and without any meaningful review by a district judge, an officer exceeds his jurisdiction by selecting a jury. ”

“ This subsection would also enable the court to delegate some of the more administrative functions to a magistrate, such as the appointment of attorneys in criminal cases and assistance in the preparation of plans to achieve prompt disposition of cases in the court.
"If district judges are willing to experiment with the assignment to magistrates of other functions in aid of the business of the courts, there will be increased time available to judges for the careful and unhurried performance of their vital and traditional adjudicatory duties." ”

“ The Government had urged the court to construe the additional duties clause of the Federal Magistrates Act to allow judges to delegate jury selection in felony trials even without the defendant's consent. ”

“ The Federal Magistrates Act provides that a "magistrate may be assigned such additional duties as are not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b) (3) . Read literally and without reference to the context in which they appear, these words might encompass any assignment that is not explicitly prohibited by statute or by the Constitution. ”

“ Cf. Waller v. Georgia, 467 U.S. 39, 49, n. 9, 104 S.Ct. 2210, 2217, n. 9, 81 L.Ed.2d 31 (1984) ("While the benefits of a public trial are frequently intangible, difficult to prove, or a matter of chance, the Framers plainly thought them nonetheless real") . The absence of a specific reference to jury selection in the statute, or indeed, in the legislative history, [30] persuades us that Congress did not intend the additional duties clause to embrace this function.
The Government concedes, as it must, that errors occurring during jury selection may be grounds for reversal of a conviction. ”

“ Yet it argues that any error in these cases was harmless because petitioners allege no specific prejudice as a result of the Magistrate's conducting the voir dire examination. Brief for United States 42-45. We find no merit to this argument. Among those basic fair trial rights that " 'can never be treated as harmless' " is a defendant's "right to an impartial adjudicator, be it judge or jury." ”

“ No. 96-287, at 31-33 (dissenting views of Rep. Holtzman and Rep. Sensenbrenner) .↑ "A misdemeanor is any offense for which the maximum term of imprisonment that may be imposed does not exceed one year. An unlimited fine may also be imposed." ”

“ Notes
↑ Pub.L. 90-578, 82 Stat. 1108, as amended, 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b) (3) .↑ Both petitioners were charged with conspiracy to distribute, and actual distribution of, cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841, 846 (1982 ed. and Supp. V) . ”