Second set of initials in Pacer Titles

[dksentencingstats]

This is more of a question than an issue. When Pacer titles contain two judge initials in a CR case, is there a rule of thumb to discern judge 1 and judge 2? Meaning, is the second initials always or usually a magistrate? Is there a way to determine which of the two issued a judgement or sentence? Etc?

[mlissner]

Can you share a screenshot or example, please?

[johnhawkinson]

This is more of a question than an issue. When Pacer titles contain two judge initials in a CR case, is there a rule of thumb to discern judge 1 and judge 2? Meaning, is the second initials always or usually a magistrate?

Yes, in CM/ECF captions (not in titles?), the first set of initials is the primary judge and the second set of initials is the referral judge. Those terms (primary, referral) are my casual terms in this reply and not official ones.

The primary judge is not always an Article III judge — in some districts magistrate judges can serve in the role Article III judges by local rule and with the consent of the parties, and in such a situation they would be the first set of initials. Usually they don't also have a magistrate judge to refer the items to, but sometimes they do, because sometimes referrals are not solely about workload and are sometimes about, say, isolating discovery issues away from the eyes of the finder of fact when it is a bench trial before a judge with no jury.

Is there a way to determine which of the two issued a judgement or sentence? Etc?

The proper way is to read the relevant docket entry, which should always make it clear.
And of course, some courts will tell you that you cannot trust the docket entry and you should always read the paper itself, since in the event of an error or a conflict, it is the paper which governs. Still, such conflicts are vanishingly rare.

I am rusty on my criminal procedure, but I don't know that magistrate judges have the power to sentence (aside from the above special case where they are acting in the role of an Article III judge)

As for judgments ("What's a judgement?" e asks cheekily), that would depend on the judgment, I think.

[dksentencingstats]

Can you share a screenshot or example, please?

Sure! Here are several examples:

1:22-cr-00069-TSL-RPM USA v. Suazo (closed 11/21/2022)
1:22-cr-00053-TSL-BWR USA v. Coronado-Rodriguez (closed 11/21/2022)
5:18-cr-00022-DCB-FKB USA v. Singleton et al (closed 12/06/2022)
3:22-cr-00060-KHJ-FKB USA v. Walker (closed 11/16/2022)
1:22-cr-00026-HSO-RPM USA v. Anzures-Flores (closed 11/21/2022)
1:22-cr-00034-TSL-BWR USA v. Crawford, Jr (closed 11/21/2022)
3:20-cr-00128-CWR-LGI USA v. Chunn, et al (closed 02/02/2023)
3:20-cr-00110-DCB-FKB USA v. Smith (closed 12/02/2022)

[dksentencingstats]

This is more of a question than an issue. When Pacer titles contain two judge initials in a CR case, is there a rule of thumb to discern judge 1 and judge 2? Meaning, is the second initials always or usually a magistrate?

Yes, in CM/ECF captions (not in titles?), the first set of initials is the primary judge and the second set of initials is the referral judge. Those terms (primary, referral) are my casual terms in this reply and not official ones.

The primary judge is not always an Article III judge — in some districts magistrate judges can serve in the role Article III judges by local rule and with the consent of the parties, and in such a situation they would be the first set of initials. Usually they don't also have a magistrate judge to refer the items to, but sometimes they do, because sometimes referrals are not solely about workload and are sometimes about, say, isolating discovery issues away from the eyes of the finder of fact when it is a bench trial before a judge with no jury.

Is there a way to determine which of the two issued a judgement or sentence? Etc?

The proper way is to read the relevant docket entry, which should always make it clear. And of course, some courts will tell you that you cannot trust the docket entry and you should always read the paper itself, since in the event of an error or a conflict, it is the paper which governs. Still, such conflicts are vanishingly rare.

I am rusty on my criminal procedure, but I don't know that magistrate judges have the power to sentence (aside from the above special case where they are acting in the role of an Article III judge)

As for judgments ("What's a judgement?" e asks cheekily), that would depend on the judgment, I think.

Thanks John! That's what I was inferring, so appreciate the input.

So in the below example which is the Pacer Title, we can assume that HSO is the Primary judge (to borrow your language) and RPM is the referral, correct?

1:21-cr-00109-HSO-RPM USA v. Coleman et al (closed 10/26/2022)

[johnhawkinson]

So in the below example which is the Pacer Title,

I don't quite follow why you call this the PACER Title. Setting aside the "I don't know what PACER is, we're talking about CM/ECF" ('cuz I'm weird) discussion, CM/ECF doesn't call this field assemblage the title and neither does Courtlistener? Indeed, CM/ECF calls the caption the "Case title" and doesn't include the docket number (or the initial suffixes) with it.

Anyhow, that doesn't really matter either.

we can assume that HSO is the Primary judge (to borrow your language) and RPM is the referral, correct?

Well, as you can see, I try to be a bit careful with words.
I'm not comfortable with "assume" because no, we are not assuming it. We are defining the first field as the primary judge and the second field (if present) as the referral judge.

1:21-cr-00109-HSO-RPM USA v. Coleman et al (closed 10/26/2022)

So, this is https://ecf.mssd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/DktRpt.pl?113090 (paywalled)
which we capture as
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60825173/united-states-v-coleman/

U.S. District Court
Southern District of Mississippi (Southern)
CRIMINAL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:21-cr-00109-HSO-RPM All Defendants

Case title: USA v. Coleman et al Magistrate judge case number:  1:21-mj-00621-RPM

Date Filed: 10/05/2021 Date Terminated: 10/26/2022

---

Assigned to: District Judge Halil S. Ozerden Referred to: Magistrate Judge Robert P. Myers, Jr

Note the "Assigned to" and "Referred to" language, although this text may vary across CM/ECF instances.

So, "No," strictly speaking, but probably "Yes" to the question I imagine you meant to ask.