A federal court that oversees appeals in patent cases suspended a 97-year-old judge amid concerns about her mental competence, a rare instance in which a court has moved to sideline one of its life-tenured members for health reasons.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, based in Washington, D.C., issued an order Wednesday that said Judge Pauline Newman canāt hear cases for a year, a move it said was necessary because the judge, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, hadnāt cooperated with a court investigation into her mental fitness.
The order listed a series of concerns that Newman is dealing with cognitive and physical impairment, saying staff reported repeated incidents of āsignificant mental deterioration including memory loss, confusion, lack of comprehension, paranoia, anger, hostility, and severe agitation.ā
āWhat matters is that Judge Newman, like everybody else, is entitled to due process,ā said Greg Dolin, a lawyer for Newman who once clerked for the judge. āSheās entitled to an adjudicator whoās not also a witness.ā
Life-tenured federal judges have the option to take senior status, a process whereby a judge enters semiretirement while retaining a reduced caseload. Newman has and will consider retirement if she ever feels she is no longer suited to the task, which she doesnāt think has yet happened, Dolin said.
āWe will cross that bridge once Judge Newman turns 100,ā he said.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/federal ... n-5116052d