Courts

The Federal Circuit Court Of Appeals Wants To Force Judge Newman To The Supreme Court To Get Her Job Back

And I thought forced MRIs were bad enough.

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95-Year-Old Judge Newman Denied New Cases Amid Fitness Probe

Photographer: Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Kimberly Moore and her colleagues are still trying to oust Pauline Newman. You’d think that their caseload would be too busy with Patent litigation and arguing over Veteran benefits, but for some reason preventing Newman from presiding over (and likely dissenting from opinions in) cases remains atop the order of operations for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

As expected, Newman is fighting her suspension from hearing cases. From Bloomberg Law:

Judge Pauline Newman argued that her lawsuit to reverse a decision by her colleagues on the Federal Circuit barring her from new cases should be allowed to continue, and that her suspension should be lifted while the case proceeds.

The filing, made late Wednesday, argued in at-times fiery prose that the US District Court for the District of Columbia should grant an injunction and “restore her to the bench immediately.”

Fiery is on brand for Judge Newman. When we asked her what she thought about the constitutionality of her colleagues’ functionally impeaching her, she minced no words:

[I] think it’s absolutely in violation of the Constitution. That’s not a close question that I was appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. My colleagues on this court cannot remove me.

The Federal Circuit is consistent in trying to sweep Newman’s responses under the rug, but that’s hard to do when the law doesn’t seem to be on your side. Back to Bloomberg Law:

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The council additionally asked for dismissal of Newman’s lawsuit, saying the district court lacks authority to review the body’s disciplinary actions. Newman fired back in a responsive brief filed late Wednesday night by her lawyer Greg Dolin.

“Defendants’ assertion that a judicial council of a circuit is a body subject to almost no constraints or review mechanisms is the very definition of arbitrary power,” Newman said. “Our Constitution does not tolerate such powers.”

Huh. The notion that a judicial body being subject to no constraints or review mechanisms? Seems like the expectations of 1 First Street, NE Washington have bled over to 1 Courthouse Way.

The issue may very well need to be addressed by a change in address. The Council argued that the only way Newman can challenge its decision would be to go to the Supreme Court. However, she sees it differently.

Newman argued that the Council wasn’t operating as a court when it suspended her and rather was taking on an administrative role. “Actions of administrative bodies are properly reviewed by an original proceeding in the district court, rather than by mandamus to the Supreme Court.”

So much of this messiness could have been avoided if they just listened to Newman and moved this to a different district from the start. You’d think an entire panel would have enough common sense to avoid the glaring due process issues that arise by being judge, jury, and executioner for one of your colleagues. Then again, this isn’t the first time that Judge Newman has dissented from a panel and been proven right at the end of it.

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No seriously, there’s a whole paper on it.

Nation’s Oldest Judge Claps Back as She Seeks Reinstatement (1) [Bloomberg Law]

Earlier: Pauline Newman Speaks: ATL Interviews The Judge Who’s Fighting To Do Her Job

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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