Biography

Judge Betty B. Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was appointed by President Carter in 1979. She took Senior status November 1, 1998, but continues to sit, carrying a full calendar. She is an honors graduate of Stanford University and graduated first in her class from the University of Washington School of Law. She was a partner in the law firm Preston, Thorgrimson, Ellis, Holman & Fletcher, now K&L Gates. She was the first woman president of the Seattle-King County Bar Association and first woman Governor of the State Bar Association, and a member of the Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association. She was also active in civic and civil rights activities, chairing the state committee that spearheaded passage of the state equal rights amendment and ratification of the federal constitutional amendment and the state committee that spearheaded passage of the referendum for abortion reform.

She is a past president of the Federal Judges Association, a national voluntary organization of Article III judges and serves ex officio on its Board of Directors. She is a recipient of a 1992 ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. She delivered New York University's 1994 Madison Lecture.

She is married to Professor Robert L. Fletcher, emeritus professor of the Law School, University of Washington. They have four children, Susan Fletcher French, Professor of Law, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA); William A. Fletcher, former Professor of Law Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley now a Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; Katherine Fletcher, Executive Director of People for Puget Sound, a nonprofit environmental organization; and Paul R. Fletcher, M.D., a family practitioner and medical director of Group Health of Puget Sound.

Related Articles:

Hon. Betty B. Fletcher, A.B.A.: Previous Margaret Brent Women Law. Achievement Award Recipients, https://perma.cc/B9MV-GME8.

Douglas Martin, Betty Binns Fletcher Dies at 89; Liberal Stalwart on the Bench, The New York Times (Oct. 24, 2012), https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/us/betty-binns-fletcher-liberal-federal-judge-dies-at-89.html [https://perma.cc/5B36-N2WT].