A federal court found that the prosecutor’s dismissal violated statutory and constitutional protections. The remedy covers an earlier period, rather than a new return to DOJ work.
A federal judge in New York has ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully dismissed Maurene Comey in July 2025. In an October 26 opinion, Judge Jesse Furman found that her removal violated the Civil Service Reform Act and constitutional limits on executive power. Comey had served for nearly ten years as an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York.
The court rejected the government’s position that Article II permitted the removal without the protections Congress had established. The opinion explains that an attorney general’s authority to remove a prosecutor remains subject to applicable statutory conditions and procedures. It grants declarations of unlawful action as well as retroactive reinstatement and back pay.
The remedy has a precise boundary, it runs from the termination through December 20, 2025, when the court inferred that Comey accepted another job. The ruling therefore does not establish that she has now returned to the Justice Department. Her employment case is also separate from proceedings involving her father, former FBI director James Comey. This report describes the district court’s decision, without predicting the outcome of any later appeal or enforcement dispute.