Judge Pamela Rymer Dead at 70

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Pamela Rymer passed last week after a two-year battle with cancer. Judge Rymer was 70.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Rumer to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 1983. Six years later, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

During her 22 years on the appellate court, Judge Rymer sat on more than 800 merits panels and authored 335 panel opinions. She last heard oral arguments in July and her most recent opinion was filed in August.

Judge Rymer actively participated in judicial governance, including service on the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, from 1998 to 2001, and on the circuit's Space and Security Committee, from 2005 to 2008. She was a member of the Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts (the White Commission), which produced a comprehensive report in 2000 focusing on possible reorganization of the Ninth Circuit. She also served on the Ad Hoc Committee on Law Clerk Hiring, which sought to provide some order to the annual process of hiring new law clerks to assist federal judges.

Off the bench, Judge Rymer enthusiastically supported her alma mater, Stanford University. Rymer was a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees from 1991 to 2001. She also served on the Stanford Law School Board of Visitors and the university's Bill Lane Center for the American West. In 2010, she was presented with the Stanford Medal, recognizing at least 20 years of significant volunteer work on behalf of the school.

In keeping with Judge Rymer's wishes, there will be no services.

Two scholarship funds have been established at Stanford in Judge Rymer's name. Contributions should be designated to the Pamela Ann Rymer Law Scholarship Fund or the Pamela Ann Rymer Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, and sent to:

Stephen W. Player
Frances C. Arrillage Alumni Center
325 Galvez St.
Stanford, CA 94305

Judge Rymer's passing leaves four vacancies on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Related Resources:

• Obama Nominates Jacqueline Nguyen to Ninth Circuit (FindLaw's Ninth Circuit blog)
• Ninth Circuit Endorses Calendar Lies in the Interest of Justice (FindLaw's Ninth Circuit blog)
• Goodwin Liu Sworn into California Supreme Court (FindLaw's California Case Law blog)
• Judge Terence Evans Memorial Sept. 23, Nourse Nomination Stalled (FindLaw's Seventh Circuit blog)