(Washington) The oldest American federal judge, 96, was suspended from her functions on Wednesday due to doubts about the deterioration of her mental capacities, a symbolic affair in a country sometimes presented as a gerontocracy due to the age of its leaders.
Appointed in 1984 by then-President Ronald Reagan, Pauline Newman, a recognized expert in intellectual property law, sits on a federal appeals court specializing in technical subjects (patents, public contracts or veterans’ pensions, etc.) .
In March, following testimony from colleagues and employees, Chief Justice Kimberly Moore established a commission to determine whether she suffered from “a mental or physical incapacity.”
Twenty staff interviews and a review of her emails “provided ample evidence that Judge Newman may be suffering from mental problems, including memory loss, misunderstanding, confusion, and ‘inability to perform simple tasks’, according to the court’s Judicial Council.
Despite a significant reduction in the number of cases entrusted to her, “for around two years, the magistrate has taken four times as long to render half as many decisions as her colleagues” and regularly demonstrates aggressiveness towards staff, says -he.
Due to Judge Newman’s refusal to submit to a neurological and psychiatric examination prescribed by the commission, the Judicial Council says it has no choice but to suspend her from her duties for one year, renewable if she persists in her attitude.
The magistrate initiated proceedings against court officials in May, arguing that only Congress has the authority to dismiss a judge.
Her lawyer, Gregory Dolin, told AFP that the proceedings against her were flawed from the start and that she was the victim of personal resentment and discrimination linked to her age.
This episode highlights the questions that can be asked about older people still in the workforce in the United States. In the absence of a universal pension plan, many Americans are forced to continue working, others do so by choice, but the end of their careers can prove difficult.