Judge Pauline Newman, America’s oldest federal judge at 97, continues to fight suspension from the bench by her colleagues who deemed her mentally unfit for the job. Newman is appealing her suspension and has also filed a motion to unseal documents related to an investigation that ultimately led to her being temporarily removed from the bench.

Newman, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, was barred from practicing for one year by the Federal Circuit Judicial Council in September 2023 after the panel said she had refused to sit on one Inquiry co-operating with “reasonable concerns” about her mental fitness. The suspension was extended by the panel for another year in September.

The Committee on Judicial Conduct conducted more than 20 interviews with court staff and noted their “significant mental decline, including memory loss, confusion, lack of understanding, paranoia, anger, hostility and severe agitation,” according to court documents.

Federal judge, 96, barred from hearing cases after panel alleges lack of mental fitness: ‘baseless allegations’

The suspension order also said that Newman was slower to issue statements than her colleagues and had “accumulated a troubling backlog of cases,” which her team said was not true.

The federal court, where Newman has served for nearly 40 years, frequently hears patent, intellectual property and copyright cases. Newman is considered a leading intellectual property lawyer.

The investigation into Newman led to her filing a federal lawsuit against her fellow judges.

U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, a President Obama appointee, dismissed most of Newman’s lawsuit in February and then dismissed the entire case based on the pleadings in July, according to Law & Crime.

In his 15-page ruling, Cooper rejected the legal challenges Newman had raised against the Judicial Conduct & Disability Act and did not focus on the factual allegations against Newman.

Newman appealed the verdict on Monday, arguing through an attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that despite her advanced age, she “retains her sharp intellect” and both lay and expert witnesses described her as “unusually cognitively intact.” “…woman” whose cognitive and physical abilities make her appear “20 or more years younger than her stated age,” according to Law & Crime.

She says she is physically and mentally fit enough to continue doing her job and has obtained independent evaluations from doctors who share the same opinion, court documents show.

The Reagan-appointed judge, now 95, must determine whether she can still do her job

In the appeal, cited by Law & Crime, Newman’s attorney said she was in good mental and physical health and argued that the only reason Newman was late in filing written statements was because ” “It makes extraordinary efforts to ensure that its opinions are fully reflected in its views and remain consistent from case to case and year to year.”

Newman is represented in the lawsuit by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a nonprofit civil rights group that says it views the “administrative state” as a particularly serious threat to constitutional freedoms.

The group says the suspension is illegal and that Newman was removed without due process.

“The indefinite, complete suspension of Judge Newman is unprecedented in American judicial history and exceeds the sanctions imposed on judges who have committed serious misconduct and improprieties,” the group said in a statement. “Suspension of an Article III judge from all judicial functions of her office is unconstitutional.”

The group said that world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Aaron G. Filler recently performed a state-of-the-art perfusion computed tomography (PCT) scan of Newman’s brain and performed a full neurological exam that “revealed no relevant deficits, confirming that she is fully fit.” to carry out the duties of the office.”

On Thursday, Greg Dolin, who represented Newman throughout the case, said in a statement that the entire disciplinary proceedings against Judge Newman were “always factually unfounded and legally without merit.”

“But the issues are more important than Judge Newman,” said Dolin, a senior trial attorney for the NCLA. “At stake is the independence of the American judiciary and our system of separation of powers. The D.C. Circuit should put an end to the Federal Circuit Judicial Council’s unconstitutional and ultra vires action against Judge Newman.”

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Newman also filed a motion to unseal documents related to the committee’s investigation and findings, which are subject to a Dec. 4 gag order, according to Law & Crime.

Newman’s legal team said Newman’s legal colleagues refused to abide by judicial conduct rules and “threatened Judge Newman and her attorney with unspecified sanctions” for releasing documents.

Her team also accused the defendants of trying to “manage the process within their own forum” in a “wholly inappropriate attempt” to contradict the law.

According to the U.S. courts, former senior U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown was the oldest federal judge in United States history and actively tried cases until about a month before his death at age 104.

Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy and Elizabeth Pritchet contributed to this report.