Courts

Despite Her Cooperation, Panel Decides To Suspend Pauline Newman For A Year

This is one hell of a way to treat a colleague.

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gavel scalesFor months now, Pauline Newman has been fighting for the continued right to do a job she is passionate about. Her coworkers have launched complaints that she is too old to continue judging. At numerous points, she met the accusations with medical records and displays of competency. Unfortunately, these have not been enough. From Law360:

A Federal Circuit panel investigating claims that 96-year-old Judge Pauline Newman is not mentally fit to remain on the bench has recommended that she be suspended from hearing all cases for one year for not cooperating with the probe.
…
[T]he committee said it was “amply justified” in ordering her to undergo a medical examination and produce medical records.

Judge Newman has refused to do so, arguing that the investigation violates due process and shows bias against her. But the committee said “none of these arguments has merit,” and her lack of cooperation has brought the process to a “grinding halt.”

“Thwarting the process Congress created for determining whether a life-tenured judge suffers from a disability is a serious matter,” the report said.

From the outset, it doesn’t look like Newman was nearly as obstinate as the panel has made her out to be. While it is true that she argued the investigation violated her due process, she provided documentation from a doctor that found her mental faculties in order and reported that she hadn’t had a heart attack. Since the accusations against her were that she wasn’t mentally fit and that she was in poor health due to a heart attack… it feels like her cooperation wasn’t just de minimis — it was pretty on the nose.

If we want to talk about arguments not having merit, I think that it would be in bad form to not let a highly decorated jurist rebut her attackers. Thankfully,  she was given the opportunity to add context to the panel’s criticisms. She gave a common sense explanation to push back against the panel’s conclusion that she took too long to pen her opinions in Fordham IP Institute:

I do take longer than some of my colleagues, although others have taken as long or longer. It does take longer to write a dissenting opinion, for it must be impeccable in fact, law, and reasoning since it criticizes other judges. Dissents are also important to adjudication because they require the judges in the majority to shore up their reasoning and further explain their rulings, for the benefit of the parties and those to be bound by precedent. My colleagues have succeeded in eliminating my occasional criticisms of their products.

It is worth reading Newman’s detailed account in her own words. You may do so here.

If this is what Newman thinks this is — an attempt to oust her over her age and the audacity to dissent frequently — I hope that it is an isolated event. Dissents play an important role in our jurisprudence, and it would be a shame if the exchange of opinions is chilled for fear that your coworkers will shut you up if they don’t like what you say.

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Judge Newman Should Be Suspended For 1 Year, Panel Says [Law.com]
There’s No Excuse. 39 Years of Judicial Excellence Rewarded with Degrading Judicial Abuse [FordhamIPInstitute]

Earlier: A Lifetime-Appointed Judge Was Accused Of Not Being Able To Do Her Job. She Brought Receipts.
Pauline Newman’s Dissents Get More Attention Than Her Coworkers Making Up Medical Conditions About Her

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 [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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