Visiting professor makes his mark: Markman selected as chief justice of Michigan Supreme Court

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Visiting professor makes his mark: Markman selected as chief justice of Michigan Supreme Court
Stephen Markman, distinguished visiting professor of politics, was selected as the chief justice of the of the Michigan Supreme Court on Jan. 6. | Michigan Supreme Court

In 1993, Professor of Politics Mickey Craig received a letter from George H.W. Bush’s outgoing U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. It was Stephan Markman wanting to know if he could teach Constitutional Law at Hillsdale College.

“He wrote to us, I can’t remember to whom he wrote, and it ended up on my desk, and I said, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have him teach Constitutional Law for us,’” Craig said.

After teaching the class every fall for 23 years, Markman, who has served on Michigan’s Supreme Court since 1999, was selected as chief justice Jan. 6. Markman will serve for two years, after which he can be reappointed.

Markman said he’s looking forward to the challenge offered by the new position.

“I’m just honored to be selected by my colleagues,” Markman told The Collegian.

Craig said Markman’s legal rulings align with Supreme Court justices like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, sticking to interpretation of the law instead of legislating from the bench. Craig called Markman’s understanding of constitutional law “extraordinary.”

Markman first learned about Hillsdale, while serving as counsel for the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. He was working on the Supreme Court case Grove City College v. Bell. The high court ruled in favor of Grove City, stating Title IX, which mandates equal treatment of men’s and women’s sporting programs, only applies to colleges and universities that accept federal funds.

“I was introduced there to the efforts of Hillsdale College and to a small number of other education institutions to maintain their independence,” Markman said. “I’d worked with Hillsdale administrators and officials at the time, and at least temporarily, we prevailed in that dispute.”

As a professor, Markman has also inspired many of his own students. Alumnus David Viviano ’94, who is now a colleague of Markman’s on the Michigan Supreme Court, took his Constitutional Law course, while in school.

“He and his brother were former students, and they were some of my best students,” Markman said. “I’ve been blessed over the years to have taught a great number of Hillsdale students, many of whom have gone into the law.”

And after tagging along with his father when he came to teach, Markman’s son, James, attended Hillsdale, graduating in 2012.

Working with Markman has allowed many of the professors to know him professionally and personally. Craig said over the years, he learned Markman is a huge Detroit sports fan.

“We were in Florida doing [an event], it had to be late September, October, when the Tigers won the Pennant,” Craig said. “I got to see Justice Markman jump up and down like a teenager when [Magglio] Ordóñez hit a homerun to win the Pennant.”

Sophomore Ross Hatley, who took Markman’s Constitutional Law class in the fall, said he enjoyed the course, though it was difficult and eye-opening.

“It’s an exceedingly challenging course that gives a great foundation on what the actual interpretation of the Constitution is in the modern day and throughout time,” Hatley said. “After the first day of class, I left with a different view of the Constitution than I had after years of reading it.”

Provost David Whalen said the college is pleased Markman has made time to teach his Constitutional Law class in the midst of his busy schedule.

“Student feedback is highly positive,” Whalen said. “And he’s not only a man of real legal expertise, but his wealth of practical experience and the depth of insight that that has given him really benefits students with the perfect balance of theoretical and practical wisdom.”