UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-1346

CARYN DEVINS STRICKLAND,

Plaintiff – Appellant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; JUDICIAL CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED STATES; BRIAN STACY MILLER, The Hon., in his official capacity as Chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Resources; ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES COURTS; ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, The Hon., in her official capacity as Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; SHERYL L. WALTER, in her individual capacity as General Counsel for Administrative Office’s Office of the General Counsel; JOHN DOE(S), c/o Office of the General Counsel for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT; JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF THE FOURTH CIRCUIT; ROGER L. GREGORY, The Hon., in his individual capacity and his official capacity as Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit and as Chair of the Judicial Council of the Fourth Circuit; JAMES N. ISHIDA, in his individual capacity and his official capacity as Circuit Executive of the Fourth Circuit and as Secretary of the Judicial Council of the Fourth Circuit; JOHN G. BAKER, in his official capacity as Federal Public Defender of the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of North Carolina; FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA; ANTHONY MARTINEZ, in his individual capacity,

Defendants – Appellees. ------------------------------ MEMBERS OF CONGRESS,

Amici Curiae. LEGAL MOMENTUM; NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER; THE PURPLE CAMPAIGN AND 42 ADDITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS; NAMED AND UNNAMED CURRENT AND FORMER EMPLOYEES OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY WHO WERE SUBJECT TO OR WITNESSED MISCONDUCT; AZIZ HUQ; ERWIN CHEMERINSKY,

Amici Supporting Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at Asheville. William G. Young, United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, sitting by designation. (1:20-cv-00066-WGY)

Argued: March 2, 2022 Decided: April 26, 2022

Before Mary Beck BRISCOE, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Ronald Lee GILMAN, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and Michael J. MELLOY, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation. 1

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further disposition by published opinion. Senior Circuit Judge Briscoe wrote the opinion, in which Senior Circuit Judge Gilman and Senior Circuit Judge Melloy joined.

ARGUED: Jeannie Suk Gersen, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for Appellant. H. Thomas Byron, III, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; Shannon S. Spainhour, DAVIS HARTMAN WRIGHT PLLC, Arden, North Carolina, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Cooper Strickland, LAW OFFICE OF COOPER STRICKLAND, Lynn, North Carolina, for Appellant. Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Amanda L. Mundell, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; William T. Stetzer, Acting United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellees. Lynn Hecht Schafran, Jennifer M. Becker, LEGAL MOMENTUM, THE WOMEN’S LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION

1 Because all members of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit are recused in this case, a panel of judges from outside the Circuit was appointed for this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 291, 294.

2 FUND, New York, New York; Sunu Chandy, Emily Martin, NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER, Washington, D.C.; Ally Coll, Shea Holman, THE PURPLE CAMPAIGN, Washington, D.C.; Kr