Lawyers say exam shows 96-year-old US appeals judge still fit to serve
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Sept 7 (Reuters) - Attorneys for Pauline Newman on Thursday touted a forensic psychiatrist's findings that the 96-year-old judge has "no substantial emotional, medical, or psychiatric disability" that would stop her from continuing to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
For months, Newman has been fighting an investigation into her fitness by a panel of her fellow Federal Circuit judges in Washington, D.C. The panel said in April that Newman has showed signs of serious cognitive and physical impairment and accused her of misconduct for allegedly refusing to cooperate with its probe.
Newman's lawyers at the New Civil Liberties Alliance on Thursday released a report by Dr. Regina Carney, a Miami-based forensic psychiatrist, that described Newman as an "unusually cognitively intact 96-year-old woman" with "no evidence of current substantial medical, psychiatric, or cognitive disability."
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit appears in an undated photo. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
Carney's exam shows that the Federal Circuit's investigation into Newman is "baseless" and should be closed, NCLA senior litigation counsel Greg Dolin said in a statement.
The NCLA on Thursday also posted a video on YouTube that it said illustrated Newman's "vibrant mind, vigor and dignity for all to see."
A spokesperson for the Federal Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Carney.
The Federal Circuit's judicial council has barred Newman, who has defended her mental fitness from the beginning, from hearing new cases. In May, Newman sued to end her suspension and to either halt the competency probe or move it to another circuit.
Last week the Federal Circuit panel investigating Newman asked a federal judge in Washington to dismiss her lawsuit, arguing that the lower court has no jurisdiction over the appellate court's internal affairs.
Newman, an expert on intellectual property law, was appointed to the patent law-focused Federal Circuit by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.
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