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Â鶹ÉçÇø Law recently lost a trailblazing "Double Dawg" alumna, U.S. Senior District Court Judge Carolyn Dimmick. Judge Dimmick received her B.A. in 1951, and her law degree in 1953, both from the University of Washington. She was a remarkable lawyer and juristꟷ the first woman appointed to the Washington Supreme Court, and soon thereafter appointed to the U.S. District Court for Western Washington.

Born Carolyn Joyce Reaber, Judge Dimmick faced challenges as a woman pursuing a legal profession today. Growing up in Seattle, she attended Lincoln High School, then the Â鶹ÉçÇø. She said she chose a legal career because she did not like math and there was no math prerequisite for entrance to law school. Upon graduating as one of only three women in Â鶹ÉçÇø Law's 1953 graduating class and passing the Bar exam that year, she had to endure the following Seattle Post-Intelligencer headline: "Pretty Blond Water Skier Qualifies as Attorney." She was in fact an excellent water skier, having skied behind a speedboat up the Hell's Canyon rapids, which form the border between Oregon and Idaho.

But Carolyn Reaber, who later married fellow attorney Cyrus Dimmick, was a great deal more than a top-notch water skier. After passing the Bar, she served as an assistant attorney general, drafting formal Opinions of the Attorney General, and advising the Department of Forestry and then the Department of Labor and Industry. She then became a King County assistant prosecuting attorney, served in private practice, and in 1965 became a judge on the Northshore Justice Court. Several local attorneys urged Dimmick to apply to the county commissioners for the justice court appointment. Although the position was nonpartisan, politics usually played a part in the selection process. Dimmick had not been politically active other than campaigning for the Republican prosecuting attorney for whom she worked. But the King County Commissioners, two Democrats and one Republican, unanimously appointed her to the vacancy. She became only the third woman serving in the state judiciary at that time. Governor Daniel Evans appointed Dimmick to the King County Superior Court in 1976, and in 1981 Governor Dixie Lee Ray (Washington's first female governor) promoted Judge Dimmick to the Washington Supreme Court. In his book on Washington Supreme Court justices, political scientist Charles Sheldon wrote that after Justice Dimmick was sworn in, “Justice James Dolliver passed her the following note: ‘Which do you prefer: 1) Mrs. Justice; 2) Ms. Justice; 3) O! Most Worshipful One; or 4) El Maxima." Justice Dimmick quickly returned the note with this response: "All of the Above!’"

Just a few years later, in 1985, President Ronald Reagan selected Dimmick for the federal post with the Western District of Washington. She continued in that position, and then as a senior judge until her death.

Judge Dimmick was known for her intelligence, thoughtfulness and kindness to her colleagues. She was adored and respected by her law clerks, the majority of whom were women who viewed her as a mentor and role model. As a jurist, Dimmick was regarded as a moderate "conservative." In 1984 she voted with a majority of Washington's Supreme Court to uphold the death sentence for triple-murderer Charles Rodman Campbell. But she later changed her views on the death penalty, stating that it was too expensive and could not be fair without substantial changes in the relevant statutory framework.

Â鶹ÉçÇø Law sends condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Judge Carolyn Dimmick, a local legend in her own right.

References: Charles Sheldon, The Washington high bench : a biographical history of the State Supreme Court, 1889-1991 (1992); Wikipedia, ; Legacy Washington: , 1981-1985