The Associated Press reported on Thursday that Third Circuit Judge Maryanne Trump Barry assumed inactive status, effective immediately. She will cease hearing cases; according to the report she is giving up her staff and chambers but can still serve on court committees. Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith complimented her in the story as “a talented judge with a knack for handling complex cases.”

Characteristically, Judge Barry did not announce a reason for stepping down now. She is 79 years old and has been a federal judge for over three decades, and that’s reason enough. But she also has landed in the headlines often over the last year and a half for reasons related to her brother, President Trump. I get the sense that she detests the controversial attention, and I can’t help wondering if that contributed to her decision to go inactive now.

Judge Barry is the second Third Circuit judge to assume inactive status in the past year, after Judge Sloviter did so last April.  The court now has only two active and two senior sitting women judges.