William A. Fletcher

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William A. Fletcher (born in 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a United States federal appeals court judge who has sat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals since 1998.

[edit] Education and Legal Training

Fletcher received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1968 and another from Oxford University in 1970. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1975. He then clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Stanley A. Weigel from 1975 to 1976. Fletcher then clerked for Associate Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1976 to 1977.

Fletcher's mother was also an appeals court judge.

Fletcher is an outspoken member of the American Constitution Society, a nationwide, liberal association of attorneys, judges (including United States Supreme Court Justices), law students, and politicians which serves as a counterbalance to the conservative Federalist Society.

Fletcher teaches Federal Courts at Boalt Hall

[edit] Professional Career

Fletcher was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1970 to 1972 and a Professor of Law at UC-Berkeley from 1977 to 1998.

[edit] Federal Judicial Service

Fletcher was nominated by former President Bill Clinton for a seat on the Ninth Circuit vacated by William Albert Norris on January 7, 1997. He was confirmed on October 8, 1998 and received his commission on October 9.