Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Newman v. Moore, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, arguing that the Judicial Council and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exercised a de facto impeachment of Judge Pauline Newman, a removal power that the U.S. Constitution assigns exclusively to Congress. 

“This de facto impeachment circumvents the U.S. Constitution’s structural safeguards—bicameral action, supermajority agreement in the U.S. Senate, and public, deliberative proceedings,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “The Federal Circuit’s unilateral action evades those safeguards entirely, consolidating investigative, prosecutorial, and adjudicative functions within the judiciary itself.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that: 1) The Constitution’s structural safeguards for impeachment reflect the Framers’ judgment that removing a federal judge demands broad political accountability and careful deliberation; 2) The secretive nature of the proceedings to remove Judge Newman violates core constitutional principles of open judicial proceedings; and 3) The Supreme Court’s intervention is necessary to preserve judicial independence and constitutional structure. 

Tryon continued, “Allowing judges to sideline their colleagues indefinitely without impeachment invites future abuses and erodes the carefully calibrated balance between the branches.”

The New Civil Liberties Alliance represents Judge Newman in Newman v. Moore. The Manhattan Institute and the Committee for Justice joined The Buckeye Institute on this amicus brief.

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