Farmer v. Litscher

The appellants are state prisoners who petitioned the district court pro se for writs of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. By consent of the parties, see 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), the district court referred both cases for all proceedings to Magistrate Judge Goodstein, who denied the petitions and refused to issue certificates of appealability. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1). The appellants now seek certificates from us. We consolidated the cases and directed counsel to brief the following question: does a magistrate judge acting with the parties consent have the authority under § 636(c) to issue a final judgment in a § 2254 proceeding?