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Michigan Supreme Court

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  • Michigan Supreme Court
Apr 13 2016
Wednesday 12:00 p.m. EDT    

An Inside Look at Judicial Interpretation

Michigan State Student Chapter

East Lansing, MI
Speakers:
Brian K. Zahra
Sponsors:
Michigan State Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Feb 17 2016
Wednesday 12:00 a.m.    

Berkeley Federalist Society Symposium

Speakers:
William Fletcher • Raymond W. Gruender • Edith H. Jones • Thomas Rex Lee • Steve J. Markman • David R. Stras • Jeffrey S. Sutton
Sponsors:
California - Berkeley Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Feb 17 2016
Wednesday 12:00 a.m.    

Judicial Philosophy

Speakers:
Edith H. Jones • Thomas Rex Lee • Steve J. Markman • David R. Stras • Jeffrey S. Sutton
Topics:
Federalism & Separation of Powers
Sponsors:
California - Berkeley Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Sep 22 2015
Tuesday 8:00 a.m.    

Breakfast with Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr.

Washington, District of Columbia
Speakers:
Robert P. Young
Sponsors:
DC Young Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Sep 17 2013
Tuesday 5:30 p.m.    

Constitution Day Celebration

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Speakers:
Charles "Cully" Stimson
Sponsors:
Grand Rapids Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
May 14 2013
Tuesday 5:30 p.m.    

A Reception with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert P. Young, Jr.

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Speakers:
Robert P. Young
Sponsors:
Grand Rapids Lawyer Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Mar 25 2013
Monday 12:00 a.m.    

Myths and Realities of the Judicial Power

Speakers:
Steve J. Markman
Sponsors:
Washington & Lee Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Oct 17 2011
Monday 12:00 p.m.    

Capital Punishment

Speakers:
Gary Allison • Steve J. Markman
Topics:
Religious Liberties
Sponsors:
Tulsa Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Feb 10 2011
Thursday 12:00 p.m.    

The Role of the Judiciary: Myths and Realities

Speakers:
Steve J. Markman
Topics:
Federalism & Separation of Powers
Sponsors:
Ave Maria Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
Sep 27 2010
Monday 12:00 a.m.    

Judicial Selection Process

Speakers:
Steve J. Markman
Topics:
Federalism & Separation of Powers
Sponsors:
Western New England Student Chapter
  • In-Person Event
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Speaker Information
Brian K. Zahra

Brian K. Zahra

Justice of the Supreme Court, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Justice Brian K. Zahra was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to the Michigan Supreme Court on January 14, 2011. The people of Michigan subsequently elected him in November 2012 to a partial term and then re-elected him in November 2014 to a full term.

Justice Zahra received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from Wayne State University. To finance his education, he opened and operated a small health and personal care retail store in downtown Detroit. Justice Zahra later opened a grocery outlet, also in Detroit, with two partners. In 1987, he graduated with honors from the University Of Detroit School Of Law, where he served as a member of the Law Review and as Articles Editor of the State Bar of Michigan’s Corporation and Finance Business Law Journal. Upon graduation he served as law clerk to Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan before joining and eventually becoming a partner in the law firm of Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman. In 1994, Governor John Engler appointed him to the Wayne County Circuit Court where in 1996 he was elected to a six-year term. In December of 1998, he was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals by Governor Engler. He was elected to six-year terms in 2000 and 2006. From December 2005 to January 2007, he served as the Court of Appeals’ Chief Judge Pro Tem.

Justice Zahra has been active in many civic and charitable organizations, including Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, Kiwanis Club International, Leadership Detroit, the Knights of Columbus, the Maltese American Community Club, and the Maltese American Benevolent Society, of which he is a past officer. He is a former board member and officer of the Catholic Lawyers Society, and past officer of the Federalist Society, where he currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board to the Michigan chapter.  He also serves as the judicial advisor to the Hillsdale College Federalist Society Chapter.

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William Fletcher

Biography


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Raymond W. Gruender

Raymond W. Gruender

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Biography

The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on September 29, 2003, and confirmed by the Senate on May 20, 2004. He was sworn in on June 28, 2004. Between 2012 and 2014, he served on the Judicial Conference Committee on Criminal Law.

From May 2001 until May 2004, Judge Gruender served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri where he oversaw an office of sixty Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) actively engaged in both civil and criminal matters. Between 2001 and 2002, he served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. Prior to serving as the United States Attorney, Judge Gruender served as an AUSA between 1990 and 1994 and again between 2000 and 2001. As an AUSA, he specialized in prosecuting white-collar and public corruption matters.

In addition to his experience as a federal prosecutor, Judge Gruender spent nine years in private practice. Between 1987 and 1990, he was an associate with Lewis, Rice and Fingersh. Between 1994 and 2000, he was a partner with Thompson Coburn, LLP. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad array of civil matters such as admiralty, antitrust, contracts, employment, securities, fraud, banking and various tort claims. His practice also included representing those accused of or under investigation for crimes, as well as victims and witnesses of crimes. Although his practice primarily was in federal courts, he also was active in state courts. He is a member of the Missouri and Illinois bars, and and the Federalist Society.

Judge Gruender graduated from St. Louis University High School in 1981. By 1987, he had obtained Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctorate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. He served on the Washington University Law Quarterly and was a member of the Order of the Coif. In December 2003, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri.

Judge Gruender also has been active in civic affairs. He served on the Board of Directors, including as board president, of A.L.I.V.E. (Alternatives to Living in Violent Environments), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to eliminating domestic violence and serving its victims. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Variety Club, having received its 2003 “Have a Heart, Lend a Hand” volunteer award. He also has served as a director of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis. 



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Edith H. Jones

Edith H. Jones

Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Biography

Edith Jones graduated from Alamo Heights High School, where she was a National  Merit Scholar. In 1971, she received her B.A. in Economics from Cornell University, graduating with honors. In 1974, she was awarded her J.D. at the  University of Texas Law School, where she was a law review editor and received the Order of the Coif. 

Judge Jones was the first female partner at Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) where she practiced various types of litigation and  bankruptcy cases. Judge Jones went on the federal bench on June 1, 1985. 

Judge Jones served as a former member of the National Bankruptcy Review  Commission, and as a member of the Judicial Conference Commission on Bankruptcy Rules. Judge Jones served on the White House Fellows Commission.  Judge Jones served on the board of the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts  of America. She has been a member of the Garland Walker Inn of Court in Houston for more than 20 years and its President for at least ten years. Judge Jones is also  on the Board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.

 

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Thomas Rex Lee

Thomas Rex Lee

Associate Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court

Biography

Thomas R. Lee was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court by Governor Gary Herbert in July 2010. He currently serves as Associate Chief Justice and as a member of the Utah Judicial Council. He also chaired the Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Civility during a time in which the court promulgated Standards of Professionalism and Civility for judges in Utah. Justice Lee is a graduate, with high honors, of the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, he served as a law clerk for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then for Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Lee then joined the law firm now known as Parr, Brown, Gee & Loveless, where he became a shareholder. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Justice Lee was a full-time professor at the law school at Brigham Young University, where he continues to serve as Distinguished Lecturer. During his years as a full-time law professor, he maintained a part-time intellectual property litigation practice with Howard, Phillips, & Andersen. He also developed a part-time appellate practice, arguing numerous cases in federal courts throughout the country and in the United States Supreme Court. In 2004 - 05, Justice Lee served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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David R. Stras

David R. Stras

Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Biography

David Stras became a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on January 31, 2018. Before serving on the Eighth Circuit, Judge Stras was an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, a position he occupied from July 1, 2010 until his appointment to the Eighth Circuit.

Prior to becoming a judge, Stras was a member of the faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School from 2004 through 2010. He taught and wrote in the areas of federal courts and jurisdiction, constitutional law, criminal law, and law and politics.

Judge Stras received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with highest distinction, in 1995 and his Master of Business Administration in 1999, both from the University of Kansas. He also received his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1999, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Criminal Procedure Edition of the Kansas Law Review.

Following law school, Stras clerked for The Honorable Melvin Brunetti of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then for The Honorable J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

From 2001 to 2002, he practiced white-collar criminal and appellate litigation with the Washington, D.C., office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. Following his year in practice, he clerked for The Honorable Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Jeffrey S. Sutton

Jeffrey S. Sutton

Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Biography

JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.

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Edith H. Jones

Edith H. Jones

Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Biography

Edith Jones graduated from Alamo Heights High School, where she was a National  Merit Scholar. In 1971, she received her B.A. in Economics from Cornell University, graduating with honors. In 1974, she was awarded her J.D. at the  University of Texas Law School, where she was a law review editor and received the Order of the Coif. 

Judge Jones was the first female partner at Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) where she practiced various types of litigation and  bankruptcy cases. Judge Jones went on the federal bench on June 1, 1985. 

Judge Jones served as a former member of the National Bankruptcy Review  Commission, and as a member of the Judicial Conference Commission on Bankruptcy Rules. Judge Jones served on the White House Fellows Commission.  Judge Jones served on the board of the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts  of America. She has been a member of the Garland Walker Inn of Court in Houston for more than 20 years and its President for at least ten years. Judge Jones is also  on the Board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.

 

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Thomas Rex Lee

Thomas Rex Lee

Associate Chief Justice, Utah Supreme Court

Biography

Thomas R. Lee was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court by Governor Gary Herbert in July 2010. He currently serves as Associate Chief Justice and as a member of the Utah Judicial Council. He also chaired the Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Professionalism and Civility during a time in which the court promulgated Standards of Professionalism and Civility for judges in Utah. Justice Lee is a graduate, with high honors, of the University of Chicago Law School. After law school, he served as a law clerk for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and then for Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Lee then joined the law firm now known as Parr, Brown, Gee & Loveless, where he became a shareholder. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Justice Lee was a full-time professor at the law school at Brigham Young University, where he continues to serve as Distinguished Lecturer. During his years as a full-time law professor, he maintained a part-time intellectual property litigation practice with Howard, Phillips, & Andersen. He also developed a part-time appellate practice, arguing numerous cases in federal courts throughout the country and in the United States Supreme Court. In 2004 - 05, Justice Lee served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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David R. Stras

David R. Stras

Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Biography

David Stras became a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on January 31, 2018. Before serving on the Eighth Circuit, Judge Stras was an Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, a position he occupied from July 1, 2010 until his appointment to the Eighth Circuit.

Prior to becoming a judge, Stras was a member of the faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School from 2004 through 2010. He taught and wrote in the areas of federal courts and jurisdiction, constitutional law, criminal law, and law and politics.

Judge Stras received his Bachelor of Arts degree, with highest distinction, in 1995 and his Master of Business Administration in 1999, both from the University of Kansas. He also received his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1999, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Criminal Procedure Edition of the Kansas Law Review.

Following law school, Stras clerked for The Honorable Melvin Brunetti of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then for The Honorable J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

From 2001 to 2002, he practiced white-collar criminal and appellate litigation with the Washington, D.C., office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. Following his year in practice, he clerked for The Honorable Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Jeffrey S. Sutton

Jeffrey S. Sutton

Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Biography

JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.

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Robert P. Young

Robert P. Young

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice

Biography

Robert P. Young, Jr., retired justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, promoted initiatives to measure judicial performance, track public satisfaction, adopt best practices, streamline court processes, and implement technologies that expand public access, increase efficiency, and boost productivity of trial courts. From 2018 to 2019 he served as vice president and general counsel at Michigan State University. Mr. Young previously served 18 years as a member of the Michigan Supreme Court, including as chief justice from 2011 to January 2017. Before that, he was a judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals. Mr. Young has served on the boards of many charitable groups, including the Detroit Urban League, United Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit, and Vista Maria, a resource center for abused and neglected young women and girls. A former commissioner of the Michigan Civil Service Commission, he was a trustee of Central Michigan University, University Liggett School, and the Grosse Pointe Academy. Mr. Young is a former chair of the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce Leadership Detroit. He had been an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School for more than 20 years and more recently taught at Michigan State University Law School.


 

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Charles "Cully" Stimson

Charles "Cully" Stimson

Senior Legal Fellow and Manager, National Security Law Program, The Heritage Foundation

Biography

Charles “Cully” Stimson is a widely recognized expert in national security, homeland security, crime control, drug policy and immigration. A senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation since 2007, Stimson became Manager of the National Security Law Program in Heritage’s Institute for Constitutional Government in April 2013 after serving as Heritage’s chief of staff for a year.

Stimson writes and lectures on policy issues such as the law of armed conflict, terrorist detainee policy and interrogations, the Geneva Conventions, military commissions, the Patriot Act and FISA, criminal law and the death penalty, immigration and the war on drugs. As chief of staff to then-Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner, he was a key adviser on public policy matters as well as manager of Feulner’s office staff and Heritage’s day-to-day operations.

Stimson’s many research papers, op-eds and articles include special reports such as “Adult Time for Adult Crime,”  a comprehensive study on the constitutionality of life sentences for teen-age murderers, and Sexual Assault in the Military: Understanding the Problem and How to Fix It, a ground-breaking paper detailing the inner workings of the military justice system compared to its civilian counterpart. His work on criminal and immigration law has been cited in briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

He testifies before the U.S. Senate and House on national security issues, and recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Law of Armed Conflict, Law of War, and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.

Before joining the think tank in 2007, Stimson served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs. He advised then-Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates and coordinated the Pentagon’s global detention policy and operations, including at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was chairman of detainee-related panels such as the Defense Senior Leadership Oversight Committee, and the Special Detainee Follow Up Group. He represented the United States before the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2006 where he led the DOD delegation in defense of the United States’ Second Period Report on the Convention Against Torture.

An accomplished trial lawyer, Stimson worked as a prosecutor at the local, state and federal levels, where he concentrated on violent crimes such as homicide, sexual assault and domestic violence. A third generation naval officer, Cully also served as a military prosecutor, defense counsel, and recently served as Deputy Chief Judge of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary. He continues to serve, with the rank of Captain, as the Commanding Officer of the Preliminary Hearing Unit.

Stimson’s thousands of media interviews and appearances include Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, BBC, NPR and C-SPAN. He has been quoted by most major newspapers, including The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and London Times.

A businessman and educator by training, Stimson is Vice Chairman of his family’s commercial real estate company in Seattle. Before 9/11, he was a Vice President at a New York-based global financial services and insurance brokerage firm where ran the private equity mergers and acquisitions D.C. operation.

Stimson holds a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, where he later taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law. He is a graduate of Kenyon College, where he was Captain of the men’s varsity soccer team and an All-Conference player. He also studied at Harvard and Exeter universities. An avid soccer player and triathlete, he serves as Chairman of the Board of the United States Soccer Foundation, the charitable giving arm of U.S. Soccer.

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Robert P. Young

Robert P. Young

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice

Biography

Robert P. Young, Jr., retired justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, promoted initiatives to measure judicial performance, track public satisfaction, adopt best practices, streamline court processes, and implement technologies that expand public access, increase efficiency, and boost productivity of trial courts. From 2018 to 2019 he served as vice president and general counsel at Michigan State University. Mr. Young previously served 18 years as a member of the Michigan Supreme Court, including as chief justice from 2011 to January 2017. Before that, he was a judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals. Mr. Young has served on the boards of many charitable groups, including the Detroit Urban League, United Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit, and Vista Maria, a resource center for abused and neglected young women and girls. A former commissioner of the Michigan Civil Service Commission, he was a trustee of Central Michigan University, University Liggett School, and the Grosse Pointe Academy. Mr. Young is a former chair of the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce Leadership Detroit. He had been an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School for more than 20 years and more recently taught at Michigan State University Law School.


 

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Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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Gary Allison

Vice Dean, Tulsa Law

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Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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Speaker Information
Steve J. Markman

Steve J. Markman

Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

Biography

Stephen Markman was appointed Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court on October 1, 1999.  He served as the Chief Justice from 2017-2019.  Before his appointment, he served as Judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1995-1999. Prior to this, he practiced law with the firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit.

From 1989-1993, Justice Markman served as United States Attorney, or federal prosecutor, in Michigan, after having been nominated by President George H. W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate. From 1985-1989, he served as Assistant Attorney General of the United States, after having been nominated by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the United States Senate. In that position, he headed the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy, which served as the principal policy development office within the Department, and which coordinated the federal judicial selection process. Prior to this, he served for seven years as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice Markman has authored articles for such publications as the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Detroit College of Law Review, the Stanford Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review, the American Criminal Justice Law Review, the Barrister’s Law Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and the American University Law Review. He has also served as a contributing editor of National Review magazine, and has authored chapters in such books as “In the Name of Justice: The Aims of the Criminal Law,” “Still the Law of the Land,” and “Originalism: A Quarter Century of Debate.”

Justice Markman has taught constitutional law at Hillsdale College since 1993.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School.  He traveled to Ukraine on two occasions on behalf of the State Department, to provide assistance in the development of that nation’s post-Soviet constitution. He is a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation, a Master of the Bench of the Inns of Court, and a member of the One Hundred Club.  He has spoken before hundreds of youth, civic, charitable, and legal groups throughout Michigan and nationally, and has coached Little League baseball and basketball.  He lives with his wife Mary Kathleen in Mason, and has two sons, James and Charles.

Justice Markman was re-elected to the Supreme Court in 2000, 2004, and 2012. His present term expires January 1, 2021.

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