'Ranting, rambling, and paranoid': Federal appeals court suspends 96-year-old judge until she passes mental exam
lawandcrime.com
The judge said Chief Judge Markey gave her permission to disregard a court rule. That judge "has been dead for 17 years and has not been a member of the Court for 32 years," noted the council.

Judge Newman has threatened to have staff arrested, forcibly removed from the building, and fired. She accused staff of trickery, deceit, acting as her adversary, stealing her computer, stealing her files, and depriving her of secretarial support. Staff have described Judge Newman in their interactions with her as “aggressive, angry, combative, and intimidating”; “bizarre and unnecessarily hostile”; making “personal accusations”; “agitated, belligerent, and demonstratively angry”; and “ranting, rambling, and paranoid.” Indeed, interactions with Judge Newman have become so dysfunctional that the Clerk of the Court has advised staff to avoid interacting with her in person or, when they must, to bring a co-worker with them.

  • Sami_Uso@lemmy.world
    914·
    1 year ago

    I’m all for term limits and an end to lifetime appointments, but maybe it’s time we start pulling back on the idea that people are useless and incompetent the moment they turn 65. I don’t really think putting an expiration date on human beings is a good thing.

      • Sami_Uso@lemmy.world
        11·
        1 year ago

        It has nothing to do with the article, just the general vibe of every comment section talking about old people turns into a circle jerk about when people are no longer valuable to society.

    • smegger@aussie.zone
      4·
      1 year ago

      I’m a fan of the concept of performance based appointments. When they fail to perform they risk losing their position.

      That way, no complaints of ageism or whatever

      • Chocrates@lemmy.world
        41·
        1 year ago

        Yeah but what does adequate “performance” for a judge mean? Can we quantify it?

        Who is in charge of enforcing it?

    • Chocrates@lemmy.world
      41·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know that anybody is realistically saying that, I’m sure some assholes do and I often group all the “olds” together when I am frustrated. There are many things at play here:

      • government appointments for life (or until retirement) mean that powerful government positions are basically unavailable for younger generations
      • American work ethic tells you it is good to work until you die and not “freeload”
      • Some people that get power like it and will not willingly relinquish it
      • we have not aptitude tests for really anything beyond what it takes to get hired

      I don’t know what the right and fair solution is, but it feels like government appointments should have a time limit. What that is I don’t know what is reasonable

    • dirthawker0@lemmy.world
      63·
      1 year ago

      Some people die young, some people die old. Some people get Alzheimer’s in their 30s or 40s, others remain sharp up till death at 95. I could see a specific age as a guideline but to say “you’re 70, off you go to pasture” is just as wrong as keeping on someone clearly incompetent.