Article: “98-year-old judge asks US Supreme Court to hear case over her suspension” 

Reflection:

In the Reuters article “98-year-old judge asks US Supreme Court to hear case over her suspension,”

Journalist Blake Brittain reports on how the U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is seeking to challenge a Washington federal appeals court’s imposed suspension of her working as a federal judge. The article notes that there have been concerns over Newman’s health and ability to remain in the judge position due to “signs of serious cognitive and physical impairment,” according to Kimerly Moore, the Chief Federal Circuit Judge. On the other hand, Newman claims that being suspended from her position, which came after refusal to assist a fitness investigation, is not constitutional as the Federal Circuit is not given this authority, according to Brittain. 

This article brings into the question of how age and jurisdiction should be considered, along with the inquiry after arguments surrounding lifetime tenure. Mark Chenoweth, Newman’s lawyer, and his statement on the instability of lifetime tenure makes me wonder what the intentions of the Founding Fathers were when they wrote “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour” (Source). What does “good Behaviour” consist of in their standards—does it refer to (e.g.) remaining as politically neutral as possible? Or is it a term that they would like to be defined differently over time depending on the historical context’s period?