[2] In 1977, Springmann graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and later from Notre Dame Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1980.

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

He appealed his case to the Indiana Supreme Court on the basis of "ineffective counsel" because his attorney didn't object to him wearing a stun belt in front of the jury that convicted him.

After the Indiana Supreme Court rejected Stephenson's appeal, he took it to the federal level, where Judge Springmann overturned his guilty sentence and the death penalty in a 26-page ruling.

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.