18 U.S.C. § 3402
Section 3402 · Rules of procedure, practice and appeal1
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 182 court decisions — leading case Gomez v. United States (1989)
Most recently applied in United States of America v. Frank N. Staples United States of America v. Jason L. Gerhard (May 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (26 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 18 U.S.C. § 3401 · 28 U.S.C. § 636 · 28 U.S.C. § 1291
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In all cases of conviction by a United States magistrate judge an appeal of right shall lie from the judgment of the magistrate judge to a judge of the district court of the district in which the offense was committed.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18 U.S.C., 1940 ed., §576a (Oct. 9, 1940, ch. 685, §2, 54 Stat. 1059).
Amendments
1988—Pub. L. 100–702 struck out second par. which read as follows: “The Supreme Court shall prescribe rules of procedure and practice for the trial of cases before magistrates and for taking and hearing of appeals to the judges of the district courts of the United States.”
1968—Pub. L. 90–578 provided that the appeal shall be of right, substituted “a United States magistrate”, “magistrate”, and “magistrates” for “United States commissioners”, “commissioner”, and “commissioners”, respectively, and provided that the appeals be to the judge of the district court and not to the district court and that the rules of the Supreme Court relate to appeals to the judges of the district courts rather than to the district courts.
Change of Name
“United States magistrate judge” and “magistrate judge” substituted for “United States magistrate” and “magistrate”, respectively, in text pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–702 effective Dec. 1, 1988, see section 407 of Pub. L. 100–702, set out as a note under section 2071 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 90–578 effective Oct. 17, 1968, except when a later effective date is applicable, which is the earlier of date when implementation of amendment by appointment of magistrates [now United States magistrate judges] and assumption of office takes place or third anniversary of enactment of Pub. L. 90–578 on Oct. 17, 1968, see section 403 of Pub. L. 90–578, set out as a note under section 631 of title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.