Helen Jackson Frye (December 10, 1930 – April 21, 2011) was an American judge and attorney in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. She served as a judge of the

Oregon Circuit Court Oregon's circuit courts are general jurisdiction trial courts of the U.S. state of Oregon. These courts hear civil and criminal court cases. The state has 27 circuit court districts, most of which correspond to the boundaries of Oregon's 36 coun ...

and later as a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the sta ...

Early life

Helen Jackson was born in

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

on December 10, 1930, the daughter of Elizabeth (Kirkpatrick) and Earl Jackson. She grew up on a potato and grain farm in Klamath County. Her father died when she was three, and she was raised by her

maternal ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

grandparents from age three to nine while her mother and sibling recovered from tuberculosis.Van Meter, Heather
Three Oregon Judges and a 25th Anniversary.
''Oregon Benchmarks'', Fall 2005. Retrieved on June 3, 2008.Mitchell, Jann. Helen Frye: View from the bench. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', January 15, 1989. Her mother remarried and they moved from the family farm. After high school she attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

where she graduated in 1953 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in English and served as class president of her sophomore class. To pay for school, Frye worked as a babysitter and a waitress. She was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. After graduation, she taught in public schools.Alumni & Development: Frontier Spirits.
University of Oregon. Retrieved on June 3, 2008. In 1961, Frye earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

at the University of Oregon. She graduated from the

University of Oregon School of Law The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...

in 1966 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. She had three children with her first husband Bill Frye: Karen, Heidi, and filmmaker

E. Max Frye Eric Max Frye (born 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director from Oregon. In 2015, he received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing, with Dan Futterman, the original screenplay for ''Foxcatcher''. Early life and education Fry ...

Legal career

After passing the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1966 she entered private legal practice in Eugene, and worked for her husband, who was the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Lane County. In 1971, Frye left private practice and became a judge for the

’s second district covering Lane County. Oregon Governor

Tom McCall Thomas Lawson McCall (March 22, 1913 January 8, 1983) was an American statesman, politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the state's thirtieth governor from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, McCall grew up th ...

appointed her to the position, and she became the first female judge of the Oregon Circuit Courts. Helen and Bill divorced in 1975, with Helen remarrying to Perry Holloman. She remained on that court after winning election to a full term and re-election until 1980, when she became a judge for a new seat on the

In 1973, as circuit court judge Frye she presided over the trial of Dayton Leroy Rogers, who was found not guilty by reason of mental defect. Rogers was sent to the

Oregon State Hospital Oregon State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the state's capital city of Salem with a smaller satellite campus in Junction City opened in 2014. Founded in 1862 and constructed in the Kirkbride ...

, was released on December 12, 1974, and then went on to kill several women before being sent to

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

Federal judicial service

Frye was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

on December 3, 1979, to the

, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on February 20, 1980, and received her commission the same day, becoming the first female federal judge in Oregon. She assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on December 10, 1995, serving in that status until her death, but was inactive her final years.

Notable cases

Frye presided over the case that voided the incorporation of the community of

Rajneeshpuram Rajneeshpuram was a religious intentional community in the northwest United States, located in Wasco County, Oregon. Incorporated as a city between 1981 and 1988, its population consisted entirely of Rajneeshees, followers of the spiritual tea ...

Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the ...

. She also dismissed a case concerning the protection of the

northern spotted owl The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific No ...

from logging in 1989. In 1992, she was the trial court level judge for

Kyllo v. United States ''Kyllo v. United States'', 533 U.S. 27 (2001), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the court ruled that the use of thermal imaging devices to monitor heat radiation in or around a person's home, even if conducted fro ...

, an unlawful search case that made it to 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 involve a point o ...

in 2001.

Later years and death

Frye was awarded the Meritorious Service Award from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2000.U.S. District Judge Helen Frye to receive UO Law School award.
University of Oregon, May 16, 2000. Retrieved on June 3, 2008. Helen Frye died on April 21, 2011, in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon.

References

External links

''New York Times'' article on Rajneeshpuram decision

The Helen Frye Papers
at

The University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Helen Jackson 1930 births 2011 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Eugene, Oregon Politicians from Klamath Falls, Oregon Oregon state court judges University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon School of Law alumni 20th-century American women judges