Editing United States district court (section)

==Judges==
{{Main|United States federal judge}}
A judge of a United States district court is officially titled a "United States District Judge". Other [[federal judge]]s, including [[United States court of appeals|circuit judges]] and [[List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court justice]]s, can also sit in a district court upon assignment by the chief judge of the circuit or by the [[Chief Justice of the United States]]. The number of judges in each district court (and the structure of the judicial system generally) is set by [[United States Congress|Congress]] in the [[United States Code]]. The [[President of the United States|president]] appoints the federal judges for terms of good behavior (subject to the [[advice and consent]] of the [[United States Senate|Senate]]), so the nominees often share at least some of his or her convictions. In states represented by a senator of the president's party, the senator (or the more senior of them if both senators are of the president's party) has substantial input into the nominating process, and through a tradition known as [[senatorial courtesy]] can exercise an unofficial veto over a nominee unacceptable to the senator.

Federal [[United States magistrate judge|magistrate judges]] are appointed by each district court pursuant to statute. They are appointed for an eight-year term and may be reappointed for additional eight-year terms. A magistrate judge may be removed "for incompetency, misconduct, neglect of duty, or physical or mental disability".<ref>{{usc|28|631}}</ref> A magistrate judgeship may be a stepping stone to a district judgeship nomination.

District judges usually concentrate on managing their court's overall caseload, supervising trials, and writing opinions in response to important motions like the motion for [[summary judgment]]. Since the 1960s, routine tasks like resolving discovery disputes can, in the district judge's discretion, be referred to [[United States magistrate judge|magistrate judges]]. Magistrate judges can also be requested to prepare reports and recommendations on contested matters for the district judge's consideration or, with the consent of all parties, to assume complete jurisdiction over a case including conducting the trial.

With the exception of the [[United States territorial court|territorial courts]] ([[District Court of Guam|Guam]], the [[District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands|Northern Mariana Islands]], and the [[District Court of the Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]]), federal district judges are [[Article I and Article III tribunals#Article III courts|Article III judges]] appointed for life, and can be removed involuntarily only when they violate the standard of "good behavior". The sole method of involuntary removal of a judge is through [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] by the [[United States House of Representatives]] followed by a trial in the [[United States Senate]] and a conviction by a two-thirds vote. Otherwise, a judge, even if convicted of a [[felony]] criminal offense by a jury, is entitled to hold office until retirement or death. In the history of the United States, twelve judges have been impeached by the House, and seven have been removed following conviction in the Senate. (For a table that includes the twelve impeached judges, see [[List of federal impeachments|Impeachment in the United States]].)

A judge who has reached the age of 65 (or has become disabled) may retire or elect to go on [[senior status]] and keep working. Such senior judges are not counted in the quota of active judges for the district and do only whatever work they are assigned by the chief judge of the district, but they keep their offices (called "chambers") and staff, and many of them work full-time.

As of 2010, there were 678 authorized district court judgeships.<ref>{{cite web|title=Federal Judgeships|url=http://www.uscourts.gov/JudgesAndJudgeships/FederalJudgeships.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516193815/http://www.uscourts.gov/JudgesAndJudgeships/FederalJudgeships.aspx|archive-date=May 16, 2010|website=United States Courts}}</ref>

A federal judge is addressed in writing as "[[The Honorable]] John/Jane Doe" or "Hon. John/Jane Doe" and in speech as "Judge" or "Judge Doe" or, when presiding in court, "Your Honor".