Newman was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 30, 1979, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 1979, and received his commission on June 21, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1993 to 1997. He assumed senior status on July 1, 1997.[3]
Honor
On December 8, 2016, at a special ceremony at the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Elena Kagan presented to Judge Newman, on behalf of the federal judiciary, the 2016 Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award.[5] The Devitt Award honors an Article III judge who has achieved a distinguished career and made significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole.
Noteworthy decisions
Abele v. Markle, 351 F. Supp. 224 (D. Conn. 1972) - Connecticut statute prohibiting abortions, except to save life of mother, was unconstitutional.
Salinger v. Random House 811 F.2d 90 (2d Cir.1987) - J.D. Salinger's biographer used too many of the author's letters to be exempted from copyright infringement by the doctrine of "fair use"
Kadic v. Karadzic, 70 F.3d 232 (2d Cir. 1996) – There was subject matter jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Claim Act, 28 U.S.C.S. § 1350, to pursue an action for war crimes against a private individual
American Geophysical Union v. Texaco, 60 F.3d 913 (2nd Cir., 1994) – Texaco's bulk photocopying of articles from scientific journals for its researchers was not fair use since it was in support of the company's commercial goals and not the public good. The first Second Circuit copyright case to consider transformative use.
Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 137 F.3d 109 (2nd Cir. 1998) - poster for movie "Naked Gun 33 1/3" with photo of Demi Moore visibly pregnant and head of Leslie Nielsen replacing Moore's head and caption "Coming in February" was parody of Vanity Fair cover and exempt from copyright infringement as "fair use."
Trump v. Deutsche Bank (2019) 943 F.3d 627 (2nd Cir. 2019) - Deutsche Bank must hand over financial records of Trump and others to the House of Representatives. This ruling along with 2 others regarding Trump's financial records was heard by the Supreme Court in 2020,[7] and held that the lower court had not adequately addressed separation of powers concerns in the rulings.[8]