Newman was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 2, 1971, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut vacated by Judge William H. Timbers. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 11, 1971, received his commission on December 15, 1971,and began serving as a judge on January 17, 1972. His service as a District Judge terminated on June 25, 1979, due to his elevation to the Second Circuit. Newman's best-known opinion as a District Judge was an opinion in Abele v. Markle, decided by a three-judge court in 1972, which struck down Connecticut's abortion statute and was seen as a precursor to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade the following year. 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.
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. 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 - Connecticut statute prohibiting abortions, except to save life of mother, was unconstitutional.
SCM Corp. v. Xerox Corp.", 463 F. Supp. 983 - After 14-month jury trial, probably the longest federal civil jury trial, Xerox Corp. did not violate antitrust laws by maintaining its plain paper copying monopoly. - A lawyer cannot take a client's money and then fail to proceed with his case because the client is not paying the bill. The Court sent immigration lawyer to the Grievance Panel for possible violation of ethical rules after the lawyer did not process the appeal of his client because of lack of payment.
Salinger v. Random House 811 F.2d 90 - 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"
Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 137 F.3d 109 - 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 - 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 will be heard by the Supreme Court in 2020.
