The Hon. Deborah G. Bledsoe Ford is a judge for the 36th District Court of Michigan. She was elected to the bench on November 2, 2004, and re-elected in 2010 and 2016.
Prior to her election, Bledsoe Ford spent time as a staff attorney with the Office of the Juvenile Defender, an assistant city attorney with the City of Detroit Law Department, and an attorney in her own private practice.
Bledsoe Ford earned a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. She then completed a J.D. at the Boston College Law School in 1981.
After graduating from law school, Bledsoe Ford began her legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. Julian A. Cook of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Raised in Detroit, Bledsoe Ford attended Cass Technical High School. She is the daughter of the Hon. Geraldine Bledsoe Ford (deceased), the first African-American female judge in Michigan. Her father, Leonard Guy Ford, played professional football with the National Football League.