Chief Justice Roberts has transferred the judicial fitness investigation involving Judge Pauline Newman to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a move that aligns with the 99-year-old judge’s longstanding request for review by a neutral circuit rather than her colleagues on the Federal Circuit.
According to court information released Tuesday, the 11th Circuit said Chief Justice Roberts reassigned the matter on Aug. 19. The court also said Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. made the transfer order public at Judge Newman’s request and will consider releasing additional filings as the proceedings continue.
Judge Newman has argued that fitness inquiries must include district and circuit judges from the relevant region. Because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is composed solely of its own judges, she has maintained that her colleagues should not investigate one of their own, calling it a conflict of interest.
Newman has been suspended since 2023 after declining to undergo medical testing under terms set by the Federal Circuit’s judicial council. The suspension has been renewed twice. Her most recent suspension lapsed in late August, yet her attorneys at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit public interest law firm, say her status has not changed.
Her earlier appeal was dismissed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in August 2025. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the matter in June.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance said it welcomed the transfer and indicated it will continue to seek public access to filings as the case proceeds in the 11th Circuit.
Chief Justice Roberts transfer and next steps
With the case now before the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, Chief Judge Pryor will oversee the docket and determine what additional documents may be made public as the judicial conduct process moves forward.