Michigan has its first Palestinian American judge and she's from Dearborn Heights.
The governor picked Yvonna Abraham, 40, to fill a Wayne County Third Circuit Court vacancy for the next 18 months. She can run for a full six-year term in November 2022.
Yvonna Abraham graduated from UM-Dearborn and the University of Detroit Mercy. (Photo: YouTube)
"Yvonna will be the first Palestinian American judge in Michigan and perhaps in the U.S. that we know of," posts Osama Siblani, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Arab American News weekly newspaper. Its coverage has her background:
Abraham currently serves as the magistrate and director of probation for the 20th District Court in Dearborn Heights. She also serves as a faculty member for the Michigan Judicial Institute. ... She previously [was] a solo practitioner. She also served as an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University, teaching courses in business law.
Abraham earned her juris doctor degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and bachelor of business administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. ...
Abraham lives in Dearborn Heights with her husband, Marwan and daughter, Lena.
The downtown Detroit court's position was open because Judge Lita Popke resigned after 20 years on that bench to join a private firm as an arbitrator and mediator of business disputes and other civil lawsuits.
