A Rarity
Many cases are appealed to higher courts. But only cases that make “new law” in the highest courts – about 3-5 percent – are published in the hardbound books as “case law”. Attorney Ed Czuprynski’s name is in published case law in both the state and federal levels, a rarity shared by perhaps no one else.
In Czuprynski vs. Bay Circuit Judge, 1988, the Michigan Court of Appeals made law in Czuprynski’s epic battle with Eugene Penzien, a harsh* and powerful chief prosecutor turned circuit judge, who was ultimately reprimanded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for his abusive treatment of the young lawyer when he began his law practice. In 1990, The Detroit News prominently published a feature story, “Lawyer-judge feud alters court rules,” in a Sunday edition about Czuprynski’s 17-year-long battle with Judge Penzien.
In United States vs. Czuprynski, 1993, Czuprynski suffered paybacks through a federal indictment in 1992 for possession of 1.6 grams of marijuana (about a cigarette), resulting in the lawyer being sent to a federal penitentiary after being wrongfully convicted.
Since no one in U.S. history had ever been federally indicted, let alone imprisoned, on such a small quantity of marijuana, the story went national, including The Atlantic and the front page, top story of USA Today. Czuprynski’s conviction was later reversed on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, following a 3 ½-year-long court battle, but not until he was imprisoned for 8 ½ months, stripped of his law license, forced to close his law practice, and driven into bankruptcy.
The Champion magazine, a national publication, twice awarded the law enforcement officials involved, including Judge Timothy Kelly (then a prosecutor), with its annual “Hall of Shame Award” for “…a truly chilling abuse of power.”
Czuprynski rebounded, however, and rebuilt his successful law practice specializing in personal injury and criminal defense. Of the numerous high profile cases he handled, a murder trial, the Donna Yost case, went national when Court TV broadcast it coast-to-coast. And he became one of only a handful of lawyers to win a jury verdict in excess of a million dollars in Bay County on a personal injury case.
In 2003, Czuprynski moved his law practice, Bay Justice Associates, into this Victorian building built in 1876, naming it the “Bay Justice Building.” In 2007, the Bay County Historical Society placed Czuprynski’s law building on its annual Tour of Homes following extensive renovations.
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Dropping out of high school at 16 (1967), Czuprynski never graduated; he later obtained his GED and went on to graduate with High Honors from Michigan State University (1977) before graduating from the University of Detroit School of Law (1981). During his many years of education, Czuprynski freelanced as a licensed private detective, forced the Bay County Administrator to resign (1974), won a lawsuit against the Bay County Board of Auditors (1974) and was then elected to it four years later (1978), served as editor of a tri-county labor weekly (1978), and was twice awarded one of two national scholarships granted yearly for achievements and leadership in civil rights and civil liberties (1975 & 1979).
Most notable, Czuprynski successfully spearheaded a petition drive (1978) for a county-wide referendum vote leading to Bay County’s adoption of the elected executive system of county government, the only Michigan community to adopt that system through a petition by the People, directly. On the 30th Anniversary year of that historic petition drive (2008), Czuprynski, a defense attorney, again made history by filing his candidacy as an Independent for county prosecutor, the first time in Bay County’s 212-year-history that anyone ran for a county-wide office as an Independent, not affiliated with any political party.
High school dropout • High honors graduate
Elected official • Lawyer • Ex-convict • Community activist
That’s Ed Czuprynski – A Rarity
