Theresa Lazar Springmann (born January 23, 1956) is a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

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 Northern District of Indiana The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (in case citations, N.D. Ind.) was created in 1928 by an act of Congress that split Indiana into two separate districts, northern and southern. As part of the act, the Northern Distr ...

Early life and education

Born in

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, as the third of four children and the granddaughter of immigrants from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In 1977, Springmann graduated summa cum laude from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

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 and later from

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...

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 ...

in 1980.

Legal career

Following law school graduation, she worked as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge James Tyne Moody of the

from 1980 to 1983. She was in private practice in

from 1984 to 1995. She served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the Northern District of Indiana from 1995 to 2003.

Federal judicial career

On the recommendation of Senator

Richard Lugar Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from De ...

, Springmann was nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana by President George W. Bush on January 29, 2003, to a seat vacated by James Tyne Moody. Springmann was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on March 31, 2003, on a Senate vote and received her commission on June 24, 2003. She served as chief judge from February 3, 2017, to May 31, 2020. 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 January 23, 2021, her 65th birthday.

Notable rulings

In May 1997, a John M. Stephenson received a guilty verdict and death sentence for killing three people in

Warrick County, Indiana Warrick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 63,898. The county seat is Boonville. It was organized in 1813 and was named for Captain Jacob Warrick, an Indiana militia company commander killed ...

. He appealed his case to the

Indiana Supreme Court The Indiana Supreme Court, established by Article 7 of the Indiana Constitution, is the highest judicial authority in the state of Indiana. Located in Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis, the Court's chambers are in the north wing of the Indiana ...

on the basis of "ineffective counsel" because his attorney didn't object to him wearing a

stun belt A stun belt is a belt fastened around the subject's waist, leg, or arm that carries a battery and control pack, and contains features to stop the subject from unfastening or removing it. A remote-control signal is sent to tell the control pack to g ...

in front of the jury that convicted him. In April 2007, the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously rejected his appeal. After the Indiana Supreme Court rejected Stephenson's appeal, he took it to the

federal level Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

, where Judge Springmann overturned his guilty sentence and the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in a 26-page ruling. She noted, "Due process mandates that John M. Stephenson is entitled to what he was denied: a trial without restraints". The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. On remand, Judge Springmann ruled that Stephenson had not been prejudiced by his lawyer's failure to object to his having to wear a stun belt visible to jurors in the penalty phase of the litigation. In 2017, on appeal for the second time, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. The appellate court ruled that Stephenson was not entitled to habeas relief with respect to his murder conviction, but that he was entitled to a new sentencing hearing because his attorney was ineffective for failing to object to his having to wear a stun belt.Stephenson v. Neal
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 4 August 2017.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Springmann, Theresa Lazar 1956 births Living people Indiana University alumni Notre Dame Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges People from Gary, Indiana United States magistrate judges 21st-century American women judges