I. Introduction Since the enactment of the Federal Magistrates Act (Act)(1) in 1968 United States magistrate justices have assumed many of the duties and responsibilities of district judges(2) Magistrate arbiters are often called about for example, to rule onward discovery and suppression of evidence motions, issue reports and recommendations forward dispositive motions, adjudicate little offenses and misdemeanor cases, and uniform with the consent of the parties, preside through the whole extent of the trial of civil actions.(3) It is no exaggeration to say, as the superlative Court recently did, that
