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A committee conducting an inquiry into the competency of Judge Pauline Newman, a 95-year-old U.S. appeals court judge, has shifted its focus to determine whether her refusal to cooperate constitutes misconduct. Court documents on Monday revealed the latest developments in the ongoing investigation.
Initially, the investigative committee examined whether Judge Newman had an impairment that hindered her ability to fulfill her responsibilities as a U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals member. However, Judge Newman declined to undergo a neurological examination and withheld her medical records, leading the committee to conclude that it lacked sufficient information to determine if she had a disability.
The committee, consisting of three Federal Circuit judges, subsequently decided to concentrate on investigating whether Judge Newman’s refusal to comply with their requests during the probe amounted to misconduct. As part of this process, the committee set a deadline of July 5 for Judge Newman to respond to the allegations. A closed-door hearing on the matter has also been scheduled for the following month.
One of Judge Newman’s lawyers, Gregory Dolin, informed the committee that she would not consent to an examination until the court lifted the ban on her hearing new cases and transferred the investigation to another appeals court. Dolin maintained that Judge Newman was willing to assist in an investigation conducted by a “neutral referee.”
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Judge Newman has taken legal action to block the investigation, asserting that her responsibilities were unlawfully revoked before the completion of the probe. Furthermore, her lawyer has raised objections to the selection of a doctor by the committee for the examination.
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Unfortunately for Judge Newman, her attempts to persuade the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit to reverse its decision from March, which barred her from hearing new cases, were unsuccessful. In an order released on Monday, the council stated that its concerns about Judge Newman’s ability to handle her caseload had escalated since the initial unanimous vote against assigning her new cases.
The order revealed that Judge Newman currently has seven pending cases for which she has yet to finalize opinions, three of which have remained unresolved for over 200 days. Comparatively, the order indicated that Judge Newman, an esteemed expert in intellectual property law, took an average of 199 days between October 2021 and March 2023 to complete an opinion after its assignment, while the other active judges on the court took only 58 days.
Court staff members have reportedly informed investigators that Judge Newman, who is the oldest active federal judge in the United States, has encountered difficulties in independently carrying out simple tasks and has occasionally exhibited signs of disorientation and paranoia.
As the investigation progresses, the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit holds the authority to determine whether to impose sanctions on Judge Newman. The legal community will be closely following the developments surrounding this case as it raises significant questions regarding judicial competency and cooperation within the judicial system.
