By Kevin E. Noonan --
The dispute between the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit and The Honorable Pauline Newman, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has been waging for more than a year (see links below). The case has prompted amici to weigh in (see "Enough is (Apparently) Enough," Parts I, II, III, and IV) and last month a panel of physicians (neurologist James Noble, clinical neuropsychologist Jonathan DeRight, and diagnostic radiologist Jason Johnson) disputed the conclusions that Judge Newman's counsel asserted to refute allegations that the Judge was mentally incapable of performing her duties. Today, one of Judge Newman's doctors, Dr. Aaron G. Filler of the Institute for Nerve Medicine in Santa Monica, California, addressed those criticisms. The positions of the two groups of physicians are technical enough to be impossible for someone without a medical degree to effectively evaluate and yet are filled with deprecations and quasi-personal attacks (the results are "highly subjective, unscientific, and unreliable" as one example, and that criticisms of the methods used to evaluate Judge Newman's competency "work to effectively, objectively, and conclusively, rule out the known forms of dementia" which, being newer methods, "may be threatening" to doctors relying on more conventional diagnostic methods).
This post was informed by Ryan Davis reporting on IPLaw360.
For additional information regarding this topic, please see:
• "Judge Newman Files Reply Brief in Newman v. Moore," March 4, 2025
• "Judge Newman Suspension Renewed"; "Judge Newman Files Appeal with D.C. Circuit," December 22, 2024
• "Special Committee's Suspension Recommendation Adopted by Federal Circuit," September 8, 2024
• "Judge Newman's Suit Comes to an End," July 9, 2024
• "Special Committee of the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit Replies," May 27, 2024
• "Judge Newman's Suit Continues," April 28, 2024
• "Judge Newman Suspended for One Year by Federal Circuit," September 20, 2023
• "Federal Circuit Special Committee Recommends One-Year Suspension of Judge Newman," August 6, 2023
• "Federal Circuit Special Committee Responds to Judge Newman's Counsel's Request for Clarification Regarding Misconduct Hearing," June 21, 2023
• "Judge Newman Matter Continues," June 20, 2023
• "Judge Newman and the On-Going Attempts to Remove Her from the Federal Circuit," May 21, 2023
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