In a dramatic turn of events, 96-year-old US federal appeals court judge, Pauline Newman, has been barred from hearing cases for a year by a judicial council. The council, consisting of her colleagues, has raised concerns about her mental fitness to serve on the Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This bitter fight over Judge Newman's ability to continue serving on the bench has taken an unusually public and contentious turn, sparking a lawsuit and creating divisions among judges.
Judge Newman, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and has served on the court for nearly four decades, vehemently denies any decline in her mental capacity and insists that she remains physically and mentally fit to decide legal matters. She has accused her colleagues of making baseless claims and attempting to force her out due to her age.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is one of the 13 US appellate courts and handles cases related to government contracts, patents, and trademarks. Federal judges, appointed for life and confirmed by the US Senate, do not have a mandatory retirement age.
The Judicial Council's decision to suspend Judge Newman stems from her refusal to cooperate with an investigation into her mental fitness. The council expressed "reasonable concerns" that she may be suffering from a disability that hinders her ability to effectively discharge her duties. The suspension, which prevents her from hearing new cases, was enacted after she had already been suspended since April amid the ongoing investigation.
However, Judge Newman's attorney, Greg Dolin, has called the suspension "flatly illegal" and criticized the process as being seriously flawed. Dolin plans to seek a review from another committee responsible for overseeing judicial conduct nationwide. He argues that the Judicial Council has been overly willing to accept any allegation as fact in order to support what appears to be a predetermined conclusion. Dolin further accuses Chief Judge Moore and the committee she appointed of being solely interested in removing Judge Newman from the bench through the exercise of unchecked power, disregarding statutory requirements, constitutional limits, due process, conflict of interest rules, and basic fairness.
The outcome of this dispute remains uncertain. The suspension can be renewed after a year if Judge Newman continues to refuse cooperation, or it can be rescinded if she decides to comply with the investigation. As of now, there are no pending cases before her because of the previous suspension. The fight over Judge Newman's continued service on the bench continues to raise questions about age, mental fitness, and the appropriate standards for judges in the United States.
