6864 Dawson

Justice Betty Dawson was born in Minnesota and moved to California as a child with her family in search of better economic opportunities. She grew up in Santa Rosa, California, and was not a good student in school. She married her high school sweetheart, but the marriage did not last. She met her current husband, Robert Haden, through her brother and they traveled around South America together. She was dared by Robert to finish her B.A. and go to law school, so she did. She attended Hastings Law School and graduated second in her class of 518 students. She was an extern at the California Supreme Court during the time when Rose Bird was appointed Chief Justice. She was a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School during the 1978-79 school year.