A committee investigating a 95-year-old U.S. appeals court judge over her competency is narrowing its probe to focus on whether the judge’s refusal to cooperate amounts to misconduct, according to court documents made public on Monday.
Judge Pauline Newman of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals was initially under investigation over whether she has an impairment that interferes with her ability to carry out her responsibilities. But after Newman declined to undergo a neurological examination and turn over medical records, the investigative committee said it would not have enough information to determine if Newman had a disability, according to a court order.
The committee, which is comprised of three Federal Circuit judges, said it would continue investigating whether Newman committed misconduct by rebuffing its demands during the probe.
The investigative committee set a July 5 deadline for Newman to respond to the allegations and scheduled a closed-door hearing on the issue for later next month.
Attorneys for Newman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of her lawyers, Gregory Dolin, told the committee Newman would not submit to an examination until the court lifted its ban on Newman hearing new cases and transferred its investigation to another appeals court, the new documents show.
Newman has sued to block the investigation, claiming she was unlawfully stripped of her responsibilities before the probe was complete. Her lawyer has also raised objections to Newman submitting to an exam by a doctor selected by the committee.
Newman failed to convince the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit, which will ultimately determine whether to sanction Newman, to reverse its March decision to bar the judge from hearing new cases.
The council said in an order released Monday that its concerns about Newman’s ability to handle her caseload have “increased” since its initial unanimous vote against assigning her new cases.
Newman has seven pending cases for which she has not finalized opinions, including three that have been pending for more than 200 days, according to the order.
Between October 2021 and March 2023, it took Newman, an expert on intellectual property law, an average of 199 days to complete an opinion after it was assigned to her, compared to 58 days for the other active judges on the court, the order said.
Court staff have told investigators that Newman, the oldest active federal judge in the United States, has been unable to complete simple tasks independently and has at times appeared disoriented and paranoid.