U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has taken her legal battle against her suspension to the Supreme Court, asking the justices in a petition on Thursday to review the multiple orders that have led to her three-year suspension from a federal appeals court.
Newman, 98, was suspended from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2023 by a panel on her court after she refused to comply with an investigation into concerns over her fitness to serve. The panel requested neuropsychological tests as part of the investigation, but Newman has rejected taking the request exams, instead pointing to other tests she has passed and insisting she is still fit to serve. Newman has claimed the continued suspensions are unlawful, suing in federal court, but so far has not succeeded in being reinstated.
In the petition to the Supreme Court, Newman’s lawyers asked the justices to consider hearing her appeal by looking at whether courts can review orders by the judicial council, the judicial body that suspended her, regarding suspensions, as well as whether a person can sue over future unlawful actions by the judicial council. Her lawyers warn that the ongoing suspension, effectively stripping her of her lifetime term as circuit judge, sets a dangerous precedent.
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“This administrative removal of a judge who is famous for dissenting from her colleagues, by those same colleagues, with judicial refusal to review the merits of the action, undermines the judicial independence that is a vital foundation of our constitutional design. Every judge who gets crosswise with her chief judge or her colleagues must now worry whether similar tactics could be used to remove them,” Newman’s lawyers said in the petition.
Newman is the oldest active judge in the federal courts system, holding her position on the Federal Circuit since 1984 after being appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan. Her bid to revive her lawsuit has failed in the federal district court and appeals courts, with a federal appeals court panel on the D.C. Circuit finding that they could not revive the lawsuit under existing precedent but did express concern over due process.
“Judge Newman has continued to speak and write before the legal community, and no finding of disability has been made concerning her in the years since the unlawful administrative orders began. She voluntarily underwent and passed three expert evaluations of her mental fitness and was reported as having the mental ability of someone decades younger,” the petition to the Supreme Court said.
“She now has been suspended longer than any federal judge in history. The length of the suspension, the apparent intention to keep her off the bench permanently, the same judges acting as complainant, witnesses and judges, and the refusal to transfer the matter to another circuit for neutral investigation are unprecedented,” the petition continued.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance is representing Newman in her fight to lift the yearslong suspension, and it has stressed that the high court should hear the appellate judge’s case, noting the implications it has throughout the federal judiciary.
“Judge Newman’s case is the most important battle in America to restore judicial independence. If the Great Dissenter’s colleagues can remove her from the bench in this slipshod fashion, then other federal judges cannot be secure in their lifetime tenure. Judges everywhere are watching the Supreme Court closely to see what it does,” NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth said in a statement.
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Newman’s suspension in 2023 came at a time when then-President Joe Biden’s age and fitness to be commander in chief were under increased scrutiny, with Biden saying at the time that he intended to seek another term in the White House. Biden ultimately ended his reelection bid in July 2024, a month after a disastrous debate against now-President Donald Trump only increased concerns over Biden’s fitness for office. Biden was 82 years old when he left office in January 2025.
Trump, who is term-limited, is also one of the oldest presidents in U.S. history, and will be 82 years old when he leaves office in January 2029. As Trump’s term has continued, critics have raised concerns about the president’s health, particularly about rashes and bruises that have been seen in recent photographs. The president’s doctors have downplayed concerns about his health as minor medical problems.
