Carolyn Dimmick Final PDF.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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someone to follow.” He just wasn’t imbued with the magnitude of the occasion. Dimmick: I wasn’t imbued with any of that. I did think, “Hmmm, I wonder if I’ll be in the history books.” Hughes: Happily, your parents were alive for this moment in history. Dimmick: Yes, they were there for my swearing in. Hughes: And your fellow justices, many of whom you’d known since Law School — Dimmick: The justices were fine with it all. Well, I think they were fine with it! I never got any other feeling. Hughes: Since statehood in 1889, Dimmick takes the oath on January 2, 1981 to become the first woman on the Washington Supreme Court. you were the first woman on the Supreme Court. Tell us what sort of welcome you had there. The Washington Supreme Court in 1982. Front row, from left, Robert Utter, Hugh Rosellini, Chief Justice Bob Brachtenbach, Charles Stafford, and James Dolliver. Back row, from left, Fred Dore, Floyd Hicks, William Williams, and Carolyn Dimmick. 66
Dimmick: Well, I knew everybody but Hugh Rosellini. And of course Floyd Hicks, who was a longtime friend of my husband; they’d gone to school together. After I had been interviewed by Gov. Ray, I walked across to the Temple and I talked to Floyd. And he said, “Oh Carolyn, you can’t come! We’re old and we’ve all got bad kidneys, and we only have one bathroom.” (laughs) Hughes: So was there literally just that one bathroom right inside the front doors? Dimmick: There was one back in the conference room for the judges. Hughes: But there was only a “male” bathroom? Dimmick: That’s right. Hughes: And did Justice Hicks suggest any remedies for that? Dimmick: Well, somebody told me after I got the job that they had asked the Legislature for $60,000 or something for another bathroom. And I said, “You’re not doing that on my time. You guys can lock the door.” And I refused to let them put in another bathroom for me. Hughes: Sixty-thousand dollars? Dimmick: Yes! When they redid the Temple (in 1985) they put one in while Justice Barbara Durham was there. Hughes: There’s a feature in here ( UW Law magazine) about the so-called “Fabulous Five,” a quintet of law school grads who in 2007 made up a majority of the high court. But in your era the University of Washington Law School produced seven future justices of the Washington Supreme Court in the space of four classes, 1951-1955. It starts with Jimmy Andersen, Class of ’51; Jim Dolliver, Class of ’52; Keith Callow, also the Class of ’52; Carolyn Dimmick, Class of ’53. Is that right? Dimmick: Yes. Hughes: Bob Brachtenbach, Class of ’54; Robert Utter, also Class of ’54, and Charles Smith, Class of ’55. So you had your own “fabulous five” while you were on the court. There was Andersen, Dimmick, Dolliver, Brachtenbach and Utter. And Callow was arriving while you were departing for the federal bench in 1985. Then Charlie Smith came on three years later. …That’s a pretty formidable “Husky mafia.” Not to mention an interesting assortment 67
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Carolyn Dimmick Research by John Hu
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granddaughter are going for a visit
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it of that in him. But he was the e
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Hughes: That’s a wonderful name.
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Hughes: Emmett Watson, who became o
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taking a man’s job if they went b
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Hughes: Judge, with that glint in y
Page 16 and 17: and we traveled around putting on s
Page 18 and 19: Hughes: And your expectations? Did
Page 20 and 21: Dimmick: I liked the little stories
Page 22 and 23: Hughes: Are you musical? Dimmick: N
Page 24 and 25: take the last class - so I didn’t
Page 26 and 27: through. I never met a legal job I
Page 28 and 29: Dimmick: No, it never entered my mi
Page 30 and 31: Dimmick: Sure, yes. Hughes: We were
Page 32 and 33: Dimmick: Well, I was right in the T
Page 34 and 35: man who ran the office. He was a fr
Page 36 and 37: Hughes: Did they have a Seattle off
Page 38 and 39: Hughes: What was he like? Tell us a
Page 40 and 41: Dimmick: I worked for him three dif
Page 42 and 43: Dimmick: Who wrote the article? Hug
Page 44 and 45: Hughes: Did you find that juggling
Page 46 and 47: Hughes: So you got to do some cool
Page 49 and 50: Dimmick: Sure. I had all the prelim
Page 51 and 52: Hughes: When did you meet Barbara?
Page 53 and 54: Hughes: What kind of cases did you
Page 55 and 56: Hughes: Charlie Smith was on the Ki
Page 57 and 58: Dimmick: I didn’t do that. But on
Page 59 and 60: Hughes: That’s really well done,
Page 61 and 62: Her old paper, the loyal Seattle P-
Page 63 and 64: Dimmick: Oh, good old Ed! I don’t
Page 65: Dimmick: Right. Hughes: So it’s i
Page 69 and 70: I was so happy my parents were ther
Page 71 and 72: the nation, where you’re appointe
Page 73 and 74: Hughes: I just heard this morning o
Page 75 and 76: against that. I’m for this. I’m
Page 77 and 78: you the compliment that you are a v
Page 79 and 80: Hughes: Now they’re spending hund
Page 81 and 82: Dimmick: Yes it is. First he had ra
Page 83 and 84: emotional benefits of parenthood.
Page 85 and 86: 73 percent of the vote. Hughes: Aga
Page 87 and 88: Dimmick: So I went in before the co
Page 89 and 90: Dimmick: The way I interpret that i
Page 91 and 92: Dimmick: It’s totally amazing. Ab
Page 93 and 94: Judy - if people think that’s how
Page 95 and 96: Hughes: Who designed this structure
Page 97 and 98: Hughes: What do you like to do? Dim
Page 99 and 100: Hughes: Do you have any kind of int
Page 101 and 102: Interview with Federal Judge Robert
Page 103 and 104: modest and so self-effacing that sh
Page 105 and 106: Index Symbols “60 Minutes” 76 A
Page 107: R Ray, Dixy Lee 64, 65, 67 Reaber,
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