Raymond Corley Fisher (July 12, 1939 – February 29, 2020) was a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

Early life and education

Fisher attended University High School, earned his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree at the

University of California at Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

in 1961, and his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

in 1966, where he was president of the

Stanford Law Review The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produce ...

.Attorney Raymond C. Fisher of Los Angeles Appointed to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
''Media Release: United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit'' (October 18, 1999). One of his professors at Stanford was Joseph Tyree Sneed III, who would later be one of Fisher's colleagues on the Ninth Circuit. He clerked for Judge J. Skelly Wright of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

from 1966 to 1967. He then clerked for Justice

William J. Brennan Jr. William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice in Supr ...

of the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

from 1967 to 1968.

Career

Fisher was in private practice from 1968 to 1997 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He also served as a special assistant to

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

in 1975. He was a member of the Los Angeles City Civil Service Commission from 1984 to 1989 and was deputy general counsel to the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department in 1990. Fisher then served as president of the Los Angeles Police Commission from 1995 to 1997 and Associate Attorney General from 1997 to 1999.

Federal judicial service

Fisher was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

for the seat vacated by Judge David R. Thompson on the

on March 15, 1999.Henry Weinstein
Raymond Fisher Picked for U.S. Appeals Court
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' (March 16, 1999). He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in a 69–29 voteDavid Stout
Senate Rejects Judge Chosen By President For U.S. Court
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (October 6, 1999). on October 5, 1999. He received his commission on October 12, 1999. In 2004, Fisher granted the ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

'' petition of a death row inmate whose jury had considered invalid sentencing factors, which the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

then reversed, by a vote of 5-4. In 2006, Judge Fisher dissented when the circuit upheld a county’s practice of requiring home searches of welfare recipients. He took senior status on March 31, 2013. Fisher died on February 29, 2020.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Raymond Corley 1939 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Los Angeles Stanford Law School alumni United States associate attorneys general United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of California, Santa Barbara alumni 21st-century American judges Lawyers from Oakland, California 20th-century American lawyers California Democrats

Early life and education

Career

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links