Background
Fletcher, Betty Binns was born on March 29, 1923 in Tacoma.
Fletcher, Betty Binns was born on March 29, 1923 in Tacoma.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Fletcher attended Stanford University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1942 at the age of 19. She completed one year of law school before resuming her legal education a decade later at the University of Washington School of Law, where she finished among the top of her class in 1956.
She served as a federal judge on the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit between 1979 and 2012. She was in private practice in Seattle, Washington, from 1956 to 1979. Fletcher"s clients included former Supreme Court Associate Justice William O. Douglas.
She was instrumental in expanding the firm"s presence in Asia.
Fletcher was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on July 12, 1979, to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, created by 92 Statistics 1629. She was confirmed by the Senate on September 26, 1979, and received her commission the same day.
On the bench, Fletcher wrote opinions in areas such as employment discrimination, environmental law, Indian law, water rights, export restrictions on cryptography, obscenity on the internet, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. She died on October 22, 2012.
As a practicing lawyer, Fletcher earned a reputation for pragmatism.
Member of American Bar Association (Margaret Brent award 1992), Federal Judges Association (past president), American Law Institute, Washington State Bar Association, Phi Beta Kappa, Order of Coif.