D.C. Circuit Can’t Unseal Newman Files, Federal Cir. Argues (1)

The D.C. Circuit doesn’t have the authority to unseal documents related to the Federal Circuit’s suspension of Judge Pauline Newman, that court’s chief judge argued.

An appellate court may unseal only records it restricted and those sealed by a lower court under its jurisdiction—not documents controlled by another appellate court—according to a redacted opposition to Newman’s motion to unseal filed Thursday in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Chief Judge Kimberly Moore and a special committee of the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit also said the ...