The most senior federal judge is appealing the suspension and demanding the documents be unsealed

96-year-old U.S. District Judge Pauline Newman was suspended from hearing cases after the Federal Circuit Judicial Council unanimously found that the judge’s refusal to undergo a mental evaluation was unreasonable. Newman, a Ronald Reagan appointee, was the oldest federal judge still serving until the Council’s order. (Screengrab via YouTube).

Pauline Newman, the oldest federal court judge at 97, continues to fight her suspension over mental health concerns – and is now seeking to unseal documents related to the allegations against her.

Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, Newman was the first judge appointed directly to the Federal Circuit, where she served “with distinction” for nearly 40 years. However, the judge refused to cooperate with a mental health evaluation after her fellow judges reported behavior, delays in completing their work and habitual confusion.

The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability conducted an investigation into Newman’s mental capacity and found “overwhelming evidence” of the judge’s memory loss, lack of understanding and confusion. The committee found that the judge was often “frustrated, agitated, belligerent and hostile toward court staff” and ordered her to undergo a 30- to 45-minute interview with a neurologist and a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

Newman refused, and the committee responded with a suspension order that prevented Newman from receiving new case assignments.

Newman next sued Chief Justice Kimberly A. Moore and all the other federal judges on the panel. Newman was represented in the lawsuit by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a public interest law firm affiliated with conservative supporters and focused on the so-called “administrative state.” U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, a Barack Obama appointee, dismissed most of Newman’s lawsuit in February and then dismissed the entire case in July based on the briefs. In his 15-page ruling, Cooper did not focus on the factual allegations against Newman. Rather, the ruling was primarily limited to rejecting the legal challenges that Newman had raised against the Judicial Conduct & Disability Act itself.

Newman appealed the ruling through an attorney on Monday, arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that “Despite her advanced age, Judge Newman retains her sharp mind,” and both laypeople and experts have described her as such an “unusually cognitively intact…woman” whose cognitive and physical abilities make her appear “20 or more years younger than her stated age.”

In the appeal, Newman’s attorney said the judge was mentally and physically healthy and argued that the only reason Newman was late in submitting written opinions was because “she goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that her opinions.” fully reflect their views and remain consistent from case to case and from year to year.”

Greg Dolin, who represented Newman throughout the case, said in a Dec. 5 statement that “the entire disciplinary proceeding against Judge Newman has always been factually baseless and legally without merit” and encouraged the D.C. Circuit to “put a stop to it.” The unconstitutional and Ultra vires Action against Judge Newman.”

On the same day Newman’s appeal was filed, she also filed a motion to unseal documents related to the committee’s investigation and findings, which are the subject of a Dec. 4 gag order. In the motion, Newman’s legal team said that the defendants in the case – Newman’s legal colleagues – refused to abide by the rules of judicial conduct and “threatened Judge Newman and her attorney with unspecified sanctions” for releasing documents and “sought to control the process within their own forum” in a “wholly inappropriate attempt” to contradict the law.

In an email Tuesday, Newman’s co-counsel John J. Vecchione said:

The Federal Circuit Judicial Council continues its bizarre and unprecedented behavior toward Judge Newman. There is nothing that should be sealed under the rules and standards of the DC Circuit in either our opening brief or the supplemental appendix. We were forced to keep these documents under lock and key by the recalcitrance of the legal advisor. We hope and trust that the DC Circuit will promptly make these reassuring yet insightful materials available to the press and public.

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The most senior federal judge is appealing the suspension and demanding the documents be unsealed

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