97-year-old judge fights to get her job back after colleagues said she's unfit to serve

A federal judge who has been suspended for a year after colleagues claimed she was experiencing a mental decline is pushing back against the ruling.

Judge Pauline Newman, 97, serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and is the oldest judge still in active service, said Greg Dolin of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, who is representing Newman.

The Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit suspended her in 2023 and that suspension was extended in September, Dolin confirmed to Paste BN. The suspension prevents Newman from hearing new cases until she underwent court-directed medical examinations, Reuters reported.

Kimberly Moore, a Chief United States Circuit Judge, first lodged a complaint against Newman in March 2023, arguing that Newman was no longer fit to fulfill her duties due to mental and physical disabilities, according to a copy of the order obtained by Paste BN.

But Newman filed a lawsuit in May 2023 claiming the order had multiple factual inaccuracies and she is fit to serve. In her lawsuit, Newman named Moore, as well as circuit court judges Sharon Prost, Richard Taranto and other members of the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit.

According to the lawsuit, Newman met with Moore in March 2023, where Moore “attempted to coax Judge Newman into retirement.” Newman said she refused to retire.

Newman has been pushing back in an attempt to serve ever since, according to court documents.

Moore did not respond to requests for comment this week.

Other reasons colleagues want Judge Newman out

Newman was first appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, according to an online biography. 

She is an appellate judge, typically sitting on panels with two other judges hearing appeals in patent cases, as well as cases involving veteran benefits, trademark registrations, government contracts, public safety officers' benefits, federal employees' benefits and more, her lawyer told Paste BN.

In the order filed in March 2023, Moore wrote that Newman “has engaged in conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts” and “is unable to discharge all the duties of office by reason of mental or physical disability.”

According to the order, Newman had health issues in the summer of 2021 and agreed to be taken off motion panels, which all active judges are responsible for. The order then noted that in 2022, Newman fainted after an argument and needed help to walk and lists other instances where Newman did not fulfill her duties as a judge.

Other judges and staff claimed that Newman wasn’t fit to perform her duties as an active judge because she has caused delays in processing and resolving cases. They have also raised concerns about potential “impairment of cognitive abilities (i.e. attention, focus, confusion and memory),” the order read.

“It has been stated that Judge Newman routinely makes statements in open court and during deliberative proceedings that demonstrate a clear lack of awareness over the issues in the cases,” the order read. 

According to Moore, multiple judges have previously tried to speak to Newman about her behavior, including an instance on March 9, 2023. According to the order, Newman got angry and put a stop to the meeting.

Moore also claimed in the order that from June 2022 to March 2023, Newman had worked on 60 cases while the average judge at the time partook in 116 cases.

Moore said eventually, Newman refused to meet with her to come to a resolution. After consulting with other judges and court staff, Moore lodged a judicial conduct complaint against Judge Newman under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act.

A special committee was put together to investigate the claims made against Newman, according to an order Moore wrote in April 2023. Serving on the committee were Moore, Prost and Taranto, all three people later named in Newman's lawsuit.

Dolin, Newman’s lawyer, told Paste BN Wednesday afternoon that Newman has been examined by two psychiatrists and one neurosurgeon. 

“All three professionals, independently of one another, concluded that Judge Newman is ‘unusually cognitively intact, and is fully able to perform her judicial duties,” Dolin wrote in an email Wednesday.

He said Newman has also offered to undergo additional exams by a neutral party versus “the committee's hand-picked providers.”

“Chief Judge Moore has consistently refused these offers and refused to transfer this matter to a neutral tribunal,” Dolin said.

Lawyer says reasons for action against judge ‘kept and keep shifting’

Dolin said the reason for Newman's suspension isn’t so cut-and-dry.

“The reasons kept and keep shifting,” he wrote in an email to Paste BN on Wednesday. 

Dolin pushed back on the notion Newman is too slow in writing opinions, arguing that her rate of opinion production from 2021 to 2023 was faster than her rate in previous years.

“Data showed that Judge Newman is not the slowest member of the Court,” Dolin wrote.

Moore also claimed that Newman suffered a heart attack, had stents placed and fainted in court, all claims that Dolin dispute.

The committee reviewing the investigation into Newman previously said it interviewed 20 people who work for the court, but Dolin said the employees have never been cross-examined. 

Judge has been examined by a doctor

Newman has undergone a medical examination, her lawyer said.

In September this year, Dr. Aaron G. Filler, a neurosurgeon, inventor and an attorney conducted a “full neurological assessment” and a tomography scan on her, said her lawyer, Dolin.

“The scan was interpreted not only by Dr. Filler, but also a neuroradiologist at the George Washington School of Medicine,” Dolin wrote.  “Both of these professionals, independently of each other, concluded that Judge Newman's brain is completely normal and that the test rules out any dementia or other similar process.”

What’s the latest update in Newman’s case?

Newman’s case against Moore, Prost and Taranto was on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.  

This month, her legal team submitted information from retired federal judges, the Bar Association of the District of Columbia and more agencies to support her, Dolin said.

Her legal team is waiting for a responsive brief from the defendants in her lawsuit, as well as a ruling on the team’s motion to reconsider Newman’s suspension now that she has undergone medical examinations.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on Paste BN's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.