Scheibel spent 30 years as a prosecutor, including nearly 18 as district attorney. She began her law career at the
Hampden County District Attorney's office in 1980. Eight years later, in 1988, she took a job at the Northwestern District Attorney's office. In 1993, then-Governor
William Weld appointed the then-district attorney,
Judd Carhart, to a judgeship. Scheible, then-Carhart's first assistant, was appointed to serve out the remainder of his term. She was sworn in at Mary E. Wooley Hall on the Mount Holyoke campus. She ran as a Republican in the next four elections and was never challenged for the post. As district attorney, she had a staff of roughly 100 people and a budget of nearly $5 million. She prosecuted those involved in the suicide of
Phoebe Prince in 2011. The
Boston Globe named her a Bostonian of the Year for her work on the case. In one of her earliest cases, she prosecuted Sean Seabrooks for stabbing his ex-girlfriend and their son. After he was convicted, Scheibel was invited to Japan, where Seabrook's victim's mother was originally from, and helped get Japan's first anti-domestic violence law passed. She retired in January 2012. ==See also==