After Three Years, Chief Justice Transfers Newman’s Case to Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of Judge Pauline Newman’s petition for certiorari in June, the Chief Justice of the United States has transferred Newman’s judicial misconduct case to the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council. Newman has been asking for her case to be transferred for more than three years.

According to an Eleventh Circuit Order published today, the Chief Justice transferred Newman’s complaint “and any pending or new complaints relating to the same subject matter” to the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council on August 19, 2026. It is unclear whether U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Chief Judge Kimberly Moore requested the transfer or if the Chief Justice independently ordered it.

Moore first identified a complaint against Newman in April 2023. IPWatchdog was the first to break the news, and the court soon published a statement responding to media reports and making previously sealed documents public.

The Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit’s September 2023 decision made official the July 31 recommendation of the Federal Circuit’s Special Committee that Newman be suspended from taking on case assignments for one year, “or at least until she ceases her misconduct and cooperates such that the Committee can complete its investigation.” It barred Newman from hearing any cases at the panel or en banc level and discredited the two independent medical reports Newman has undergone in lieu of submitting to the court’s preferred exams, calling them “not remotely an adequate substitute for the thorough medical examinations ordered by the Committee.” That suspension has been renewed twice now.

Newman’s counsel have argued this amounts to an indefinite suspension that is not permitted under the law. “Judge Newman’s indefinite suspension is unprecedented in American judicial history, exceeding sanctions imposed on judges who committed serious misconduct and improprieties,” said the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) in a February 2024 statement.

And even the D.C. Circuit noted in its August 2025 decision affirming the dismissal of Newman’s district court case against Moore that “Judge Newman has posed important and serious questions about whether these Judicial Conduct and Disability Act proceedings comport with constitutional due process principles and whether her ongoing suspension comports with the structure of our Constitution.”

Newman’s successful transfer is a victory, but it has come after three long years—Newman is now 98. Fix the Court, which worked on the recently introduced Judicial Conduct and Disability Reform Act, said “the fact that Chief Judge Moore didn’t ask for a transfer soon after she identified the complaint is largely what led to our involvement in this issue: this is the only complaint against a circuit judge that survived initial review in history where the chief judge didn’t request a transfer from the Chief Justice.”

Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) introduced the Judicial Conduct and Disability Reform  Act in September to amend the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, inspired by Newman’s fight to restore her status as an active judge.

The bill would “provide for mandatory transfer requests for complaints against circuit court judges,” among other changes.

In August, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, introduced a bill to designate courtroom 201 (the main courtroom of the Federal Circuit) at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building located at 717 Madison Place NW, Washington, DC, as the “Pauline Newman Courtroom”.

NCLA President Mark Chenoweth said in a statement that they are “delighted both that this complaint has been transferred and that the transfer is now public.”

“We believe this action will help maintain public confidence in the judiciary’s ability to redress alleged misconduct or disability,” Chenoweth added.

IPWatchdog Founder and CEO Gene Quinn said the transfer is “long overdue.”

“Everyone who has spent any time with Judge Newman or listened to her speak at conferences over the past several years knows without any doubt that the allegations against her are entirely wrong,” Quinn said. “It is past time for this charade to come to an end.”

And retired Federal Circuit Chief Judge Randall Rader, who has been vocally critical of Moore’s handling of Newman’s case, along with several other prominent judges, said, “It’s clear there has been some compulsion for the court to finally step up. I think they’re saying, ‘we’ve been embarrassed long enough.”