The nation’s oldest sitting federal judge has hit back at a panel of her colleagues who blocked her from hearing further cases on the grounds of “mental fitness.”
Judge Pauline Newman, 96, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1985 by then-President Ronald Reagan.
But now the veteran judge has been suspended by her colleagues on the Federal Circuit’s Judicial Council for alleged frailty in her physical health and failure to cooperate with an investigation into “reasonable concerns” surrounding her mental fitness.
She blames Chief Judge Kimberly for telling her Moore to take on a higher status, which she says is “ridiculous.”
In response to the suspension, Newman filed a federal lawsuit against her fellow judges in May, claiming, “I never had a heart attack, never fainted, was not hospitalized like Judge Moore said, and apparently told all the judges in my court that I was disabled, couldn’t move and couldn’t think clearly.’
Judge Pauline Newman, the nation’s oldest sitting federal judge, has hit back at a panel of her colleagues who blocked her form from hearing further cases
Newman blames Chief Judge Kimberly Moore (front row, third from left) for telling her to assume senior status
In an interview with the New Civil Liberties Alliance, Newman said she felt she should not “succumb or create a pattern where judicial colleagues can bully, intimidate and ostracize a colleague they don’t like who writes dissenting opinions, so I declined . ‘
The senior judge told the organization that she is mentally and physically fit to continue in her role and that she has received independent evaluations from two doctors who expressed the same opinion, court documents show.
“I cannot understand why, at this stage of my life, my colleagues have decided to destroy me, destroy my reputation, and take away my opportunity to decide cases.”
However, the Judicial Council said they reached their decision after conducting more than 20 interviews with court staff who indicated “significant mental decline, including memory loss, confusion, lack of understanding, paranoia, anger, hostility and severe agitation.”
“Judge Newman has difficulty remembering events, conversations and information that are only days old and has difficulty understanding basic information communicated to her by court staff,” the board wrote.
Federal judges, chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate, are appointed for life and are not required to retire at any age.
Newman, 96, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1985
In an interview with the New Civil Liberties Alliance, Newman Newman said she felt she should not “succumb or create a pattern where judicial colleagues could bully, intimidate and ostracize a colleague they don’t like.”
Lawyers for Newman have described her suspension as “plainly illegal” and are asking for review by another committee charged with overseeing judicial conduct.
“If the committee formed to investigate these baseless allegations was actually interested in establishing the truth of the matter — that Judge Newman, despite her age, is in no way disabled — she could have done so months ago.” , they wrote in court documents.
“Instead, Chief Justice Moore and the committee she has appointed are interested in only one thing: keeping Judge Newman off the bench through the exercise of brute force, unconstrained by legal requirements, constitutional limits, any concept of due process, conflict between rules of interest, or even basic honesty.’
When asked for comment, the Federal Circuit Judicial Council told DailyMail.com, “neither the Judicial Council, the Special Committee, nor the court have any comment on this matter.”
It comes as debate rages over the suitability of politicians in their 80s to continue to hold the highest offices of state.
A Democrat is calling for term limits for politicians to restore “human decency” after Mitch McConnell suffered another bizarre freeze and Dianne Feinstein’s string of hospitalizations.
The 81-year-old Senate minority leader did not react for 30 seconds as he suddenly stopped speaking in the middle of a press event in Kentucky on Wednesday.
Curiously, it mirrored a similar incident that took place last month at the Capitol press conference and comes just months after McConnell suffered a concussion and broken rib when he tripped and hit his head at the DC Waldorf Astoria and was hospitalized for treatment included.
“For God’s sake, the family, friends, and staff of Senators Feinstein and McConnell are doing them and our country a tremendous disservice,” Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It’s time for term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court, and for some basic human decency.”