Congress considers overhaul to judicial conduct law
Judge Pauline Newman, now age 99, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in May 2023. A Wisconsin congressman said his bill would modernize the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act and right the “injustice” against Newman. (Photo by Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A Wisconsin congressman introduced a bill Wednesday to overhaul the law governing misconduct investigations into federal judges and limit indefinite suspensions.
U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wisconsin, said his bill would modernize the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act and right the “injustice” against Judge Pauline Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a 99-year-old jurist suspended for years amid a disability probe.
The 1980 Judicial Conduct and Disability Act created a system under which anyone can file a written complaint against a federal judge for conduct “prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts.” The law also allows for complaints about a judge’s mental acuity, according to a story by Courthouse News Service.
Fitzgerald, a Republican, said flaws in the law were exposed by a misconduct investigation into Newman, suspended from hearing cases after she refused to submit to medical examinations.
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