Barbara Durham
Barbara Durham | |
---|---|
Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court | |
In office 1995–1998 | |
Justice of the Washington Supreme Court | |
In office 1985–1998 | |
Appointed by | John Spellman |
Judge of the Washington Court of Appeals | |
In office January 4, 1980 – January 14, 1985 | |
Appointed by | Dixy Lee Ray |
Judge of the King County Superior Court | |
In office 1977–1980 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Anacortes, Washington, U.S. | October 6, 1942
Died | December 30, 2002 Seattle, Washington, U.S. | (aged 60)
Education | Georgetown University (BA) Stanford University (JD) |
Barbara M. Durham (October 6, 1942 – December 30, 2002) was the first-ever female chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court. She also was a former federal judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Early life and education
Born in
Professional career
Durham began her legal career as a deputy prosecuting attorney in King County, Washington.[2] She later went into private practice.[1]
Washington state judicial service
Durham first became a judge in 1973 when she was appointed to the
"I have a personal bias in favor of judges working their way up through the judicial system, so that when one gets to the higher court, one is familiar with the system, bottom to top," Durham once said. Durham was Washington's first judge to ever serve at all four levels of the state's courts.[1]
Nomination to the Ninth Circuit and withdrawal
In January 1999, President
In late May 1999, however, Durham abruptly withdrew her name from consideration, citing her husband's heart problems.[7] The seat later was filled by Clinton's appointment of Seattle lawyer Richard Tallman, a Republican recommended by Gorton.
Resignation
On September 15, 1999, Durham resigned from the Washington Supreme Court more than three years before the end of her term, declining to give any specifics. Durham had had repeated unexplained absences from the court in the months prior to her resignation, and she gave no explanation for them in her resignation letter. Durham had, however, been recovering from eye surgery during the court's spring 1999 term. "The last few years, especially while serving as chief justice, have been taxing and frequently stressful," she wrote in her resignation to Washington Gov. Gary Locke. "Now is the time to take a fresh look at the future." She also told Locke that she was planning to "pursue some other interests related to the law."[5]
After Durham's death, however, it came out that she had been suffering from a variety of medical problems, including early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which were the cause of her absences in her final year on the state supreme court. Durham had applied for and been granted a medical disability retirement.[3] "I don't know how to put this delicately...Things were becoming more difficult for her than they once were," said former state Supreme Court Justice Robert Utter in an article in The Seattle Times. "She had a special kind of courage."[3]
Death
A resident of Oak Harbor, Washington, Durham died in Mount Vernon, Washington on December 30, 2002, of kidney failure, a complication from the early-onset Alzheimer's disease that she had been suffering from.[1][2][3] Durham was survived by her physician husband, Charles Divelbiss, who after her death set up the Barbara Durham Memorial Fund for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Changing Venues". Washington State Bar Association. February 2003. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13.
- ^ a b "In Memoriam" (PDF). Stanford Lawyer. Spring 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-10.
- ^ a b c d Maureen O'Hagan & David Postman (December 31, 2002). "Ex-chief justice blazed trail for women in law". The Seattle Times.
- Spokane Chronicle(January 14, 1985), p. 3.
- ^ a b David Postman (September 16, 1999). "Durham Resigning State Supreme Court". The Seattle Times.
- ^ a b Joel Connelly (January 27, 1999). "Durham Nominated to U.S. Appeals Court Clinton Renominates Gould to Bench, too". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Neil A. Lewis (May 28, 1999). "A Nomination Is Withdrawn, And a Deal Is Threatened". The New York Times.
- ^ Maureen O'Hagan (February 14, 2003). "High-court judge's memorial to focus on Alzheimer's fight". The Seattle Times.