Albert Lee Stephens, Sr. was born in State Line City in 1874. He studied law in California and set up a private practice there, and later served in several legal positions before becoming a judge in 1919. In 1935 he was nominated by Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve as a United States District Court judge in California. Two years later Roosevelt nominated him to a new seat as judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and in 1957 he became chief judge. He died while still serving in 1965, at age 91.