Summary
holding that the magistrate judge's dismissal of claims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41 and was invalid and that "[b]ecause the magistrate judge acted without jurisdiction, the judgment is a nullity"
Summary of this case from Topits v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am.Opinion
No. 96-35491
Argued and Submitted December 4, 1997 — Seattle, Washington.
Filed December 12, 1997
Susan B. Loob, Los Angeles, California; Timothy Ford, MacDonald, Hoague Bayless, Seattle, Washington, for the plaintiffs-appellants.
Donald W. Lojek, Lojek Strother, Boise, Idaho, for defendants-appellees Bowen and Idaho State Board of Education.
R.B. Rock, Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett, Rock Fields, Boise, Idaho, for defendant-appellee The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, Mikel H. Williams, Magistrate Judge, Presiding.
D.C. No. CV-95-00291-MHW.
ORDER
This appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The case was assigned to a magistrate judge pursuant to a general order of the District Court for the District of Idaho, and proceeded to judgment. The magistrate judge had no jurisdiction to hear the case because the record contains no written consent of the parties as required by 28 U.S.C. § 636 (c)(1) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 73(b). See Alaniz v. California Processors, Inc., 690 F.2d 717, 720 (9th Cir. 1982); Columbia Record Productions v. Hotwax Records, 966 F.2d 515, 517 (9th Cir. 1992); Estate of Conners by Meredith v. O'Connor, 6 F.3d 656, 658 (9th Cir. 1993). Because the magistrate judge acted without jurisdiction, the judgement is a nullity, and because the district court had no jurisdiction to enter judgment, this court has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
DISMISSED, no party to recover costs in this court.