Pamela Ann Rymer

Pamela Ann Rymer (January 6, 1941 - September 21, 2011)

Federal judicial service

On January 31, 1983, Rymer was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated by Judge William Percival Gray. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 1983, and received her commission the following day. Her service terminated on May 23, 1989, due to elevation to the court of appeals. In 2010, Rymer received the Stanford Medal for her volunteer work for the university, where two scholarship funds had been created in her name. During her 22 years on the Ninth Circuit, Rymer sat on more than 800 panels and wrote 335 panel decisions. One of the more notable opinions was in Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists (2002), which held that threats on the Internet against doctors who performed abortions were not protected by the First Amendment. Fellow judge Stephen Trott said she was a "brilliant jurist" and "a joy to work with".