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 can’t hear cases for a year, a move it said was necessary because the judge, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, hadn’t 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 “significant mental deterioration including memory loss, confusion, lack of comprehension, paranoia, anger, hostility, and severe agitation.”
“What matters is that Judge Newman, like everybody else, is entitled to due process,” said Greg Dolin, a lawyer for Newman who once clerked for the judge. “She’s entitled to an adjudicator who’s not also a witness.”
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 doesn’t think has yet happened, Dolin said.
“We will cross that bridge once Judge Newman turns 100,” he said.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/federal ... n-5116052d
ConfederateSS.out!(The Blue and Silver Rebellion)... 
