Stacy Leeds became a Justice in August 2002, the first woman to serve on the JAT/Supreme Court. She received law degrees from the University of Wisconsin (LL.M.) and the University of Tulsa (J.D.), an undergraduate degree in history (B.A.) from Washington University in St. Louis and a graduate degree in business (M.B.A.) from the University of Tennessee.
While a justice for the Cherokee Nation, she served as a law professor at the University of Kansas where she directed the Tribal Law and Government Center. She later served as Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law and is the only native woman to have served as a law school dean in the United States. She has also served as judge/justice for the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, Prairie Band Potawatomi, and the Kaw Nation.
Justice Leeds has written several scholarly articles, books and book chapters, including Mastering American Indian Law (with Angelique EagleWoman) and Felix S. Cohen's Handbook of Federal Indian Law (Newton 3rd ed).