BREAKING: Judge Newman Again Denied Return To Federal Circuit - Mr. Mark Smith, LL.M., Certified Paralegal and Legal Document Preparer

A D.C. federal judge on Monday shot down suspended Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's request for an injunction that would allow her to hear cases on the Federal Circuit again and largely dismissed her suit accusing her colleagues of trying to wrongfully remove her from the bench.   U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper held that his court doesn't have jurisdiction to oversee many of Judge Newman's claims challenging her suspension under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, and that her remaining claims are too weak at this point to justify an injunction. The surviving claims deal with Judge Newman's challenges to the act itself, rather than the way it was applied against her, which requires "a demanding standard" for the 96-year-old to meet, according to Judge Cooper. He will allow Judge Newman to argue that the act is vague when it comes to deciding what counts as a mental disability, and therefore, whether it would apply to her.  "The court therefore may not entertain dismissal of the case in its entirety at this juncture," Judge Cooper wrote. "Defendants may seek dismissal of the surviving claims under Rule 12(c) or via summary judgment." The decision comes less than a week after the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability upheld the one-year suspension Judge Newman received for refusing to undergo a medical examination when the circuit's other judges questioned her mental competency. Judge Newman's attorney, Gregory Dolin of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, said Monday: "We are certainly gratified that Judge Cooper did not dismiss the entirety of the action, and we will proceed on the claims that remain live." Dolin said, "With respect to the dismissed claims, we are evaluating our options and will seek review in the DC Circuit in due course and as necessary." A representative for the Federal Circuit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Judge Newman is represented by Gregory Dolin and John J. Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. The Federal Circuit is represented by Michael Andrew Zee and Stephen Ehrlich of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The case is Newman v. Moore et al., case number 1:23-cv-01334, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.