Cynthia Stephens
From Judgepedia
Cynthia Stephens is a judge on the Michigan First District Court of Appeals. She was appointed to this position in 2008 and her term ends on January 1, 2011.[1]
Contents |
Biography
Judge Stephens received her law degree from Emory Law School. She has taught at Wayne State University Law School, the Detroit College of Law and the University of Detroit Mercy Law School. She currently lives in Detroit.[1]
Legal career
Judge Stephens worked as Vice-Chair of the Wayne County Charter Commission, Associate General Counsel to the Michigan Senate, Regional Director for the National Conference of Black Lawyers Atlanta office, and consultant to the National League of Cities Veterans Discharge Upgrade Project. In 1981, she was elected to the 36th District Court and in 1985, she was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court. She remained on the Circuit Court until 2008, when she was appointed to the Court of Appeals. She has also served on multiple Bar associations and civic organizations throughout her career.[1]
Awards and associations
Judge Stephens has been a member of the State Bar's Board of Commissioners for a total of 20 years. Through Supreme Court appointments she has served on task forces and commissions including: the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee; Prison Over - Crowding Commission; Race and Ethnic Bias Task Force. She has written articles on subjects from jury selection to judicial selection and she is also a contributing author to a text used to train law enforcement officers. She was also instrumental in bringing the successful National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Legal System to Michigan in 2003 as a State Bar hosted national event. Her work to improve the justice system continues as she co-chairs the Standing Committee on Justice Initiatives. She is a special liaison to the Committees' Planning Workgroup, forging a three to five year strategic plan for the justice initiatives work at the Michigan Bar.[2]
Stephens rules law banning assisted suicide unconstitutional
In light of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's actions in assisting suicide, Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, determining Michigan's law banning assisted suicide is unconstitutional. On February 25, 1993, the Michigan Legislature voted a law on the subject after Kevorkian assisted three people's suicides. Judge Stephens "ruled that the Legislature improperly added the measure to a bill that dealt with a narrower issue in the assisted-suicide debate. Judge Stephens wrote, "This court cannot envisage a more fundamental right than the right of self determination." She ruled the law was unconstitutional on both technical grounds as well as a "right to die" principle.[3]
See also
External links
- Michigan Bar Association
- USA Today: Judge allows demolition of historic hotel
- New York Times: Aided-Suicide Law invalidated by three different judges
- Dissident DFCU members vindicated by judge's ruling
- Michigan's Public Defense Needs Work
- Judge postpones decision on banned students
- Discrimination lawsuits head to trial
- The Detroit Free Press: Allegations against Conyers disputed
References
 |
The Michigan Project on Judgepedia
|
