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Frank Murphy



 
 
William Francis (Frank) Murphy (April 13, 1890 July 19, 1949) was a politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
 and jurist
Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations countries it has only historical and specialist usage....
 from Michigan
Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District (1920-23), Recorder's Court
Recorder's court

The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of limited jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit....
 Judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
, Detroit (1923-30). Mayor of Detroit (1930–33), the last Governor-General of the Philippines
Governor-General of the Philippines

Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the chief political executive during two pre-independence phases in the history of the Philippines, under Spanish and U.S....
 (1933-35), U.S. High Commissioner of the Philippines (1935–36), Governor of Michigan
Governor of Michigan

The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Jennifer Granholm, a member of the Democratic Party , who became Michigan's first List of female state governors in the United States on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor John Engler....
 (1937-39), United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the government of the United States....
 (1939–40), and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States....
 (1940–49).

k Murphy was born in Harbor Beach in 1890 to Irish parents, John T.






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William Francis (Frank) Murphy (April 13, 1890 July 19, 1949) was a politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
 and jurist
Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth of Nations countries it has only historical and specialist usage....
 from Michigan
Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District (1920-23), Recorder's Court
Recorder's court

The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of limited jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit....
 Judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
, Detroit (1923-30). Mayor of Detroit (1930–33), the last Governor-General of the Philippines
Governor-General of the Philippines

Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the chief political executive during two pre-independence phases in the history of the Philippines, under Spanish and U.S....
 (1933-35), U.S. High Commissioner of the Philippines (1935–36), Governor of Michigan
Governor of Michigan

The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Jennifer Granholm, a member of the Democratic Party , who became Michigan's first List of female state governors in the United States on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor John Engler....
 (1937-39), United States Attorney General
United States Attorney General

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the government of the United States....
 (1939–40), and United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States....
 (1940–49).

Early life

Frank Murphy was born in Harbor Beach in 1890 to Irish parents, John T. Murphy and Mary Brennan, who raised him as a devout Catholic. He followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer. He attended the University of Michigan
University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan is a public university research university located in the state of Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, which also includes two regional campuses in University of Michigan-Flint and University of Michigan-Dearborn....
 Law School
University of Michigan Law School

The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws Academic degree....
, where he was a member of the senior society Michigamua
Michigamua

The Order of Angell is a senior honor society at the University of Michigan. Known for a brief period as the "Hot Air Club" and subsequently known throughout the remainder of the twentieth century as "Michigamua," the organization officially renamed itself the Order of Angell in 2007 in an effort to move beyond its controversial past....
. He graduated with a BA
Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin language Artium Baccalaureus, is an Undergraduate education bachelor's degree awarded for either a course or a program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
 in 1912 and LLB in 1914. This was a combined literary and law course, a program in which students would first earn a baccalaureate degree in liberal arts and then proceed to the study of law. Murphy was stricken with Diphtheria
Diphtheria

Diphtheria is an upper Respiration tract illness characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity....
 in the winter of 1911 but was allowed to begin his course in the Law Department, from which he received his LL.B. degree in 1914. He performed graduate work at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are Call to the bar....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I of England as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent residential college of the University of Dublin....
, which was said to be formative for his judicial philosophy. In particular, he developed a need to decide cases based on his more holistic notions of justice, eschewing technical legal arguments. As one commentator wrote of his later supreme court service, he 'tempered justice with Murphy.'

He served in the U.S. Army during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, achieved the rank of Captain
Captain (Land)

The army rank of Captain is an officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and Marine ....
 with the Occupation Army in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and left the service in 1919.

After leaving the service, Murphy opened a private law office in Detroit, and soon became the Chief Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States Federal government of the United States in United States district court and United States court of appeals....
 for the Eastern District of Michigan. He opened the first civil rights section of a U.S. Attorney office.

He taught at the University of Detroit for five years.

Frank Murphy served as a Judge in the Detroit Recorder's Court
Recorder's court

The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of limited jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit....
 from 1923 to 1930, and made many administrative reforms in the operations of the court:
  • Detroit's growing "car culture" was accommodated by his assistance in creating an independent Traffic Court
    Traffic court

    Traffic court is a term that refers to a municipality's specialized judicial process for handling traffic ticket cases. In the United States, a person who is given a citation by a police officer can either plead guilty and pay the indicated Fine directly to the court house, by mail, or in some more Urban area municipalities, on the Interne...
    ;
  • He established a professional, nonpolitical probation
    Probation

    Probation is as sentence which may be imposed by a court in lieu of incarceration. A criminal who is "on probation" has been convicted of a crime but has served only part of the sentence in jail, or has not served time at all....
     department as an arm of the court, so that probation could be better aimed at social service and rehabilitation
    Rehabilitation

    Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:*Drug rehabilitation, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
    ; and
  • He helped create a bond bureau as part of the court's operations, so that pretrial release would be more evenly available to rich and poor alike. See generally, Bail bondsman
    Bail bondsman

    A bail bond agent, or bondsman, is any person or corporation which will act as a surety and pledge money or property as bail for the appearance of a Crime defendant in court....
    .


While on Recorder's Court, he established a reputation as a trial judge. He was presiding judge in the famous (and racially-charged) murder
Murder

Murder as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide....
 trials of Dr. Ossian Sweet
Ossian Sweet

Ossian Sweet was an American physician. He is most notable for his Right of self-defense in 1925 of his newly-purchased home in a predominantly White people neighborhood against a mob attempting to force him out of the neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, and the subsequent acquittal by an all-white jury of murder charges against him, his fam...
 and his brother, Henry Sweet, in 1925 and 1926. Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow

Clarence Seward Darrow was an United States lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killing Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Bobby Franks and defending John T....
-- then one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the country -- was lead counsel for the defense. After an initial mistrial of all of the black
Black people

Black people is a term usually referring to a Race of humans with a dark skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse populations into one common group....
 defendants, Henry Sweet — who admitted he fired the weapon that killed a member of the mob surrounding Dr. Sweet's home and was retried separately — was acquitted
Acquittal

In criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict of Guilt y being entered against the accused....
 by an all-white
White people

White people is a term which is usually used to refer to Human characterized, at least in part, by the light Human skin color. It often refers narrowly to people claiming ancestry exclusively from Europe....
 jury on grounds of the right of self-defense. The prosecution then elected to not prosecute
Nolle prosequi

Nolle prosequi is a List of Latin legal phrases meaning "do not pursue." It is the term used in many common law criminal jurisdictions to describe a prosecutor's application to discontinue criminal law charges before trial , or up until, but before verdict....
 any of the remaining defendants. Judge Murphy's rulings were material to the outcome of the case.

Politics

In 1930, Murphy ran as a Democrat and was elected Mayor of Detroit. He served from 1930 to 1933. In 1933, as Mayor he convened in Detroit and organized the first convention of the United States Conference of Mayors —- they met and conferred with President Franklin Roosevelt -— and Murphy was elected its first president. As a mayor and a governor, he believed in efficient and good government, not just more government.

He helped the unemployed during the Great Depression and was also a supporter of President Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
 and the New Deal
New Deal

The New Deal was the name that United States President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the Economy of the Unite...
. In fact, his principal biographer noted that "he was a new dealer even before there was a New Deal."

In 1933, Roosevelt appointed Murphy as the Governor-General of the Philippines. In January 1935, a Philippine military camp which would later serve as the headquarters of the country's armed forces was named after him. It was later renamed Camp Aguinaldo
Camp Aguinaldo

Camp Aguinaldo is the national headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and is located in Quezon City. It is located close to the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police ....
 after the Philippines' first president. When his position as Governor-General was abolished in 1935, he stayed on as the United States High Commissioner until 1936. That year he served as a delegate from the Philippine Islands to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of U.S. presidential nominating convention held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party....
 which re-nominated President Roosevelt for a second term.

Murphy was elected Governor of Michigan
List of Governors of Michigan

The following are governors of the Michigan Territory and the U.S. state of Michigan.*Prior to becoming its own territory, parts of Michigan were part of Northwest Territory , Indiana Territory and Illinois Territory ....
 on November 3, 1936, defeating Republican
Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party . It is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP....
 incumbent Frank Fitzgerald
Frank Fitzgerald

Frank Dwight Fitzgerald was an United States politician. He was elected as Republican Party Governor of Michigan of Michigan to two non-consecutive terms and was the only Michigan governor to die in office....
, and served one two-year term. During his two years in office, an unemployment compensation system was instituted. Mental health programs were also improved.

The United Automobile Workers engaged in an historic sit down strike in General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 Flint
Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River , 66 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan....
 plant. The Flint Sit-Down Strike
Flint Sit-Down Strike

The 1936-'37 Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the United Automobile Workers from a collection of isolated locals on the fringes of the industry into a major union and led to the unionization of the United States automobile industry....
 was a turning point in national collective bargaining and labor policy. Importantly, during the sit down strike, the governor brought out the national guard, but refused to order the troops to suppress it. Then Governor Murphy successfully mediated an agreement and an end to the confrontation; G.M. recognized the U.A.W. as bargaining agent under the newly adopted National Labor Relations Act
National Labor Relations Act

The National Labor Relations Act is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the private sector to organize trade unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in Strike actions and other forms of concerted activity in support of their demands....
 (or Wagner Act). This had an incalculable effect upon the fortunes of organized labor and institutionally recognized its legitimacy. In the next year the UAW saw its membership grow from 30,000 to 500,000 members. As later noted by the British Broadcasting System, this strike was "the strike heard round the world."

In 1938, Murphy was defeated by his predecessor, Fitzgerald -- who became the only governor from Michigan to succeed and precede the same person.

His success as Michigan governor (Time Magazine put him on its and U.S. Attorney General led Time to talk of him as the Democratic presidential or vice presidential candidate in 1940. and to feature him on its cover.

Melvin G. Holli wrote extensively about Frank Murphy in The American Mayor: The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders, and rated him an exemplary mayor (one of the best) and highly effective leader, who brought together the right skills and strategies to deal with the opportunities and challenges presented. Murphy is noted as being one of the foremost examples of compounding his success as a big city mayor to a highly productive leap into national politics and office.

In 1939, President Roosevelt appointed Murphy as his Attorney General. He served one year, and established the first civil rights section in that department.

He was involved in a public and widespread crusade against organized crime syndicates, including the formidable Thomas Pendergast in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson County, Missouri, Clay County, Missouri, Cass County, Missouri, and Platte County, Missouri counties....
 (and other political racketeers). Under his administration, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice is a United States Cabinet department in the United States government of the United States designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans ....
 in Detroit indicted 16 alleged Communists and fellow travelers for having recruited volunteers for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Abraham Lincoln Brigade

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Second Spanish Republic forces against Francisco Franco and the Spain under Franco....
 supporting Spanish Republican
Second Spanish Republic

The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King of Spain Alfonso XIII of Spain left the country following local and municipal elections in which republican candidates won the majority of votes in urban areas and April 1 1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered to Nationalist...
 forces against Franco
Francisco Franco

Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Te?dulo Franco y Bahamonde, Salgado y Pardo de Andrade , commonly known as Francisco Franco or Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was the dictator and Head of State of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975....
 and the Nationalists
Spain under Franco

Francisco Franco became the undisputed dictator of Spain when he defeated the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. Franco declared an official end of hostilities on April 1 1939, and reworked the name of the republic into the ?Spanish State,? a new moniker attempting to distinguish the new regime from both the monarchy and the republic...
. This earned Murphy censure from liberals. While being outwardly aggressive as Attorney General, the internal administrative accomplishments of Murphy's administration are reportedly mixed —- he brought with him his cohorts from Michigan and demoralized professionals in the Department of Justice
Department of Justice

The names Department of Justice and Justice Department may refer to:*California Department of Justice*Department of Justice *Department of Justice ...
 —- and he reluctantly accepted a promotion to Associate Supreme Court Justice. He was replaced in the Attorney General's position by Robert H. Jackson
Robert H. Jackson

Robert Houghwout Jackson was United States Attorney General and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States ....
. One writer counted him as a far better supreme court justice than he was an attorney general.

Supreme Court service

After a year as Attorney General, in 1940 President Roosevelt nominated Murphy to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

This is a list of past and present justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Both Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States are nominated by the President of the United States and Advice and consent by the United States Senate....
. The timing of the appointment put Justice Murphy on the cusp
Cusp (astrology)

In astrology, a cusp is the imaginary line that separates a Astrological sign in the zodiac or a house in the horoscope.Because the solar disc has a diameter of approximately half a degree, it is possible for the sun to straddle the cusp as it moves across the sky....
 of the Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes Sr. was a lawyer and United States Republican Party politician from the State of New York. He served as Governor of New York , United States Secretary of State , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States ....
 and the Stone
Harlan Fiske Stone

Harlan Fiske Stone was an United States lawyer and judge. A native of New Hampshire he served as the dean of Columbia Law School, his alma mater in the early 20th century....
 courts. Upon the death of Chief Justice
Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme Court...
 Harlan Fiske Stone, Murphy then served in the court led by Frederick Moore Vinson, who was confirmed in 1946.

Justice Murphy took an expansive view of individual liberties, and the limitations on government he found in the Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights

In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of constitutional amendments, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been United_States_Constitution...
.

On the Court, Murphy was a voice for protection of individual rights. John P. Frank, in "The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions", called him the Supreme Court's "most consistent voice for kindness, tolerance and humanity.".
  • In particular, he was a consistent, vocal and recognized champion of First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of expression. In fact, in Cohen v. California
    Cohen v. California

    Cohen v. California, Case citation was a Supreme Court of the United States case dealing with freedom of speech in the United States. The case was argued by Melville Nimmer, representing Paul Robert Cohen, and Michael Sauer, representing California....
     (1971) Justice Black expressly recognized that “the case Cohen appears to be well within the sphere of Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
    Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

    Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire, was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court articulated the fighting words doctrine, a limitation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech....
    , where Mr. Justice Murphy, a known champion of First Amendment freedoms, wrote for a unanimous bench.”
  • The Chaplinsky decision notwithstanding, Justice Murphy’s record on the First Amendment comports with Black’s characterization — that Frank Murphy was a “known champion of First Amendment freedoms.” This “champion” should take his rightful place in the pantheon of free-speech giants
  • Despite being expansive in his view of free speech, Justice Murphy wrote for the court a recognition that there are limits in the use of so-called 'fighting words.' In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
    Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

    Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire, was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court articulated the fighting words doctrine, a limitation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech....
    , a case involving "insulting or fighting' words . . . are no essential part of any exposition of ideas" and therefore are not protected under the First Amendment.
  • Among Murphy's most famous dissenting opinions was in the case of Korematsu v. United States
    Korematsu v. United States

    Korematsu v. United States, Case citation , was a landmark Supreme Court of the United States case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which required Japanese-Americans in the western United States to be excluded from a described West Coast military area....
    , 323 U.S. 214
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1944), in which he charged that by upholding the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II
    World War II

    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
     the Court was sinking into "the ugly abyss
    Abyss

    Abyss may mean:Sciences and philosophy* Abyssal zone, a deep extent of the sea.* Abyssal plain, a flat area on the ocean floor.* Abyss , is a bottomless depth....
     of racism
    Racism

    Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that Race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race....
    ." This was the first time that the word "racism" found its way into the lexicon of words used in Supreme Court opinion . He would use that word in five separate opinions. However the word "racism" disappeared with Murphy and from the court for almost two decades, not reappearing until the landmark (and ironically-named) decision of Loving v. Virginia
    Loving v. Virginia

    'Loving v. Virginia', , was a Landmark decision civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v....
    , which struck down as unconstitutional the Virginia anti-miscegenation statute. See also Jim Crow laws
    Jim Crow laws

    The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure Racial segregation in the United States in all public facilities, with a "separate but equal" status for black Americans and members of other non-white racial groups....
    .
  • Justice Murphy wrote the opinion of the court in Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1940), which overturned the Alabama law that forbade all forms of labor picketing. Picketing
    Picketing

    Picketing is a form of protest in which people congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in , but it can also be done to draw public attention to a cause....
     was protected under the First Amendment as a form of free speech: He wrote: "In the circumstances of our times the dissemination of information concerning the facts of a labor dispute must be regarded as within that area of free discussion that is guaranteed by the Constitution . . . Labor relations are not matters of mere local or private concern. Free discussion concerning the conditions in industry and the causes of labor disputes appears to us indispensable to the effective and intelligent use of the processes of popular government to shape the destiny of modern industrial society."
  • In Wolf v. Colorado
    Wolf v. Colorado

    Wolf v. Colorado, Case citation was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held 6-3 that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did not impose specific limitations on criminal justice in the states, and that illegally obtained evidence did not necessarily have to be excluded from trials in all cases....
    , 338 U.S. 25
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1949) he wrote in important dissent (and a concurring opinion with Justice Rutledge
    Wiley Blount Rutledge

    Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. was a United States of America educator and jurist.Rutledge was born in Cloverport, Kentucky to Wiley Blount Rutledge, Sr., a Southern Baptist Convention minister, and Mary Lou Wigginton Rutledge ....
    ) on the issue of the exclusionary rule as a sanction for Fourth Amendment
    Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

    The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable search and seizure....
     search and seizure violations. He brought to bear his perspective and experience as a trial judge and prosecutor. This dissent was ultimately adopted by the Supreme Court 22 years later in the landmark decision in Mapp v. Ohio
    Mapp v. Ohio

    Mapp v. Ohio, Case citation , was a landmark case in criminal procedure, in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects against "unreasonable searches and seizures", may not be used in criminal prosecutions in U.S....
    , 367 U.S. 643
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1961).
  • In Prince v. Massachusetts
    Prince v. Massachusetts

    Prince v. Massachusetts, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the government has broad authority to regulate the actions and treatment of children....
    , 321 U.S. 158
    Case citation

    Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
     (1944), his fierce dissent declared: "Religious freedom is too sacred a right to be restricted or prohibited in any degree without convincing proof that a legitimate interest of the state is in grave danger."
  • During World War II
    World War II

    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
    , Murphy supported individual's First Amendment rights, even as patriotism
    Patriotism

    Patriotism is commonly defined as love of and/or devotion to one's country. The word comes from the Latin language, patria, and Greek language patritha. However, patriotism has had different meanings over time, and its meaning is highly dependent upon context, geography and philosophy....
     and nationalism
    Nationalism

    Nationalism refers to an ideology, a feeling, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. While there is significant debate over the historical origins of nations, nearly all Expert accept that nationalism, at least as an ideology and social movement, is a Modernity phenomenon originating in Europe....
     became increasingly fervent. Some state governments passed laws requiring children to salute the flag and pledge allegiance each morning in school. Some religious groups protested these compulsory acts of patriotism. They argued their religion forbade their worship of secular images. Murphy voted with the majority to strike down such a law in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
    West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

    West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Case citation , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the Flag of the United States and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school....
    , , 63 S.Ct. 1178, 87 L.Ed. 1628. In doing this about face from his earlier concurrence in Minersville School District v. Gobitis
    Minersville School District v. Gobitis

    Minersville School District v. Gobitis, , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution....
     , Justice Murphy believed he had rectified an unfortunate and mistaken decision made when he was new to the court. The opportunity to reverse directions was presented when the lone dissenter, Harlan Stone became Chief Justice, and two new court members were added, so that Justice Jackson's opinion echoed Stone's earlier dissent.
  • In Falbo v. United States
    Falbo v. United States

    Falbo v. United States, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a draft board's alleged error in classifying a Jehovah's Witness as a conscientious objector rather than a minister of religion is no defense to the board's order to report for national service; post-reporting review of the classif...
     320 U.S. 549, 561 (1944), Justice Murphy wrote: “The law knows no finer hour than when it cuts through formal concepts and transitory emotions to protect unpopular citizens against discrimination and persecution.” As J. Woodford Howard noted, "Aiding the poor and promoting industrial peace in the Great Depression were major achievements; his civil liberties evangelism was often vindicated by later decisions of the Court."


Justice Murphy authored 199 opinions: 131 majority; 68 in dissent. Other important majority opinions were: Industrial Commission v. McCartin, 330 U.S. 622 (1947) (which seeks to harmonize policy problems of workers' rights, workers' compensation in two different states, and their interaction with the Full Faith and Credit Clause
Full Faith and Credit Clause

Article Four of the United States Constitution, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, commonly known as the Full Faith and Credit Clause, addresses the duties that U.S....
, Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
); and Trupiano v. United States, 334 U.S. 699 (1948) which concerns the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable search and seizure....
. An important dissent not yet mentioned is in Jones v. City of Opelika, 316 U.S. 584
Case citation

Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called Reporter s or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported....
 (1942),

Opinions differ about him and his jurisprudential philosophy. He has been acclaimed as a legal scholar and a champion of the common man. Justice Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter

Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
 disparagingly nicknamed Murphy "the Saint", criticizing his decisions as being rooted more in passion than reason. One of Justice Murphy's biographers called him a "priestly jurist" and "narcissistic." It is generally agreed that he principally made his greatest mark by being a liberal counterpoint to the court in his separate concurring and dissenting opinions.

According to Justice Frankfurter, Murphy was part of the more liberal "Axis" of justices on the Court, along with Justices Rutledge, Douglas, and Black; the group would for years oppose Frankfurter's judicially-restrained ideology. Douglas, Murphy, and then Rutledge were the first justices to agree with Hugo Black
Hugo Black

Hugo LaFayette Black was an Politics of the United States and Law of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party , Black represented the U.S....
's notion that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated the Bill of Rights protection into it; this view would later become law.

Frank Murphy was one of twelve Catholic justices out of 110 total through the appointment of Justice Samuel Alito
Samuel Alito

Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed by President George W....
 and Chief Justice John Roberts
John Roberts

John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the seventeenth and current Chief Justice of the United States. Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, Roberts generally votes with the Judicial philosophy#Judicial Conservative wing of the Supreme Court of the United States....
 in the history of the Supreme Court.

Even though he was serving on the Supreme Court during World War II, he still longed to be part of the war effort. Consequently, during recesses of the Court, he served In Fort Benning, Georgia as an infantry officer.

He acted as chairman of the National Committee against Nazi Persecution and Extermination of the Jews, and of the Philippine War Relief committee.

Death and legacy

  • Murphy died at age of fifty-nine of a heart attack
    Myocardial infarction

    Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
     during his sleep at Henry Ford Hospital
    Henry Ford Hospital

    Henry Ford Hospital is a part of the Henry Ford Health System located in Detroit, Michigan. The hospital was founded in 1915 by automotive pioneer, Henry Ford....
     in Detroit. His death was mourned by many. His remains are interred at Our Lady of Lake Huron Cemetery of Harbor Beach, Michigan
    Harbor Beach, Michigan

    Harbor Beach is a city in Huron County, Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,837 at the 2000 United States Census, with an estimated population of 1,643 in 2007....
    . Over 10,000 people attended his funeral in Detroit. He was never married, but was engaged to be married in August to Joan Cuddihy.
  • The Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, named for him, was formerly home to Detroit's Recorder's Court
    Recorder's court

    The Recorder's Court, in Detroit, Michigan was a state court of limited jurisdiction which had, for most of its history, exclusive jurisdiction over traffic and ordinance matters, and over all felony cases committed in the City of Detroit....
     and now houses part of Michigan's Third Judicial Circuit Court
    Circuit court

    Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions. Originally it meant a court that would hold sessions in multiple locations within its judicial district; the judge or judges would travel in a circuit in order to adjudicate cases across a wide area....
    . It is located at 1441 St. Antoine, Detroit, Michigan 48226. There is a plaque in his honor on the first floor, which is recognized as a Michigan Legal Milestone.
  • Outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice is a Carl Milles
    Carl Milles

    Carl Milles, born Carl Emil Wilhelm Andersson son of lieutenant Emil "Mille" Andersson and his wife Walborg Tisell, was a Sweden sculpture, best known for his fountains....
    's statue (one of his last) called "The Hand of God". This rendition was cast in honor of Frank Murphy. It features a nude figure emerging from the left hand of God. Although commissioned in 1949 and completed by 1953, the work, partly because of the male nudity involved, was kept in storage for over a decade and a half. It was placed on a pedestal in 1970 with the help of sculptor Marshall Fredericks
    Marshall Fredericks

    Marshall Maynard Fredericks was an American sculptor....
    , who was a Milles' student. The statue was commissioned by the United Automobile Workers and was paid for by individual members or UAW locals, depending upon which source you want to credit.
  • Murphy's personal and official files are archived at the Bentley Historical Library
    Bentley Historical Library

    The Bentley Historical Library is a historical library located on the University of Michigan North Campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was established in 1935 by the regents of the University of Michigan....
     of the University of Michigan
    University of Michigan

    The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan is a public university research university located in the state of Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, which also includes two regional campuses in University of Michigan-Flint and University of Michigan-Dearborn....
     in Ann Arbor
    Ann Arbor, Michigan

    Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan. It is the state's seventh largest city with a population of 114,024 as of the 2000 United States Census, of which 36,892 are university or college students....
     and are open for research. This also includes an oral history project about Frank Murphy. However, his correspondence and other official documents are deposited in more than 40 libraries around the country.
  • In memory of Justice Murphy, the only University of Michigan alumnus
    Alumnus

    An alumnus according to the American Heritage Dictionary is "a male graduate or former student of a school, college, or university." In addition, an alumna is "a female graduate or former student of a school, college, or university." If a group includes more than one gender, even if there is only one male, the plural form alumni i...
     to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Washington D.C.-based attorney John H. Pickering
    John H. Pickering

    John H. Pickering was a founding partner of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, which became one of Washington D.C.'s most prominent law firms. He was best known for his role as an Appeal lawyer in cases with national significance....
     (who was a law clerk
    Law clerk

    A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in Legal research issues before the court and in writing Legal opinion....
     for Murphy and offered some insight into his thought process) donated a large sum to the law school as a remembrance, establishing the Frank Murphy Seminar Room. See List of law clerks of the Supreme Court
    List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

    Law clerks have assisted Supreme Court Justices in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in the 1880s. By the traditions and rules that have developed around this procedure today Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on the Supreme Court of the United States have the opportunity to select four...
    .


  • Frank Murphy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law
    Doctor of Laws

    Doctor of Laws is a doctorate-level academic degree in law. What follows is a country-by-country analysis of earned doctorates in law, which are the most analogous to the concept of the LL.D....
     degree by the University of Michigan in 1939.
  • His old law office is the Frank Murphy Memorial Museum in downtown Harbor Beach, Michigan
    Harbor Beach, Michigan

    Harbor Beach is a city in Huron County, Michigan in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,837 at the 2000 United States Census, with an estimated population of 1,643 in 2007....
    . His home is there, too, and is part of the Museum. The museum also houses the largest collection of Philippine cultural artifacts in the United States. The Museum is open to the public during the summer months.
  • A memorial book was published by the Frank Murphy Memorial Museum Foundation.
  • He is memorialized in three official Michigan Historical Markers:
    • The Flint Sit-Down
      Flint Sit-Down Strike

      The 1936-'37 Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the United Automobile Workers from a collection of isolated locals on the fringes of the industry into a major union and led to the unionization of the United States automobile industry....
       (Registered Site S0497B, Erected 1980, Flint
      Flint

      Flint is a hard, sedimentary rock cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as Nodule s and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones....
      )
    • Frank Murphy (Registered Site S0285, Erected 1967, Harbor Beach)
    • Dr. Ossian Sweet
      Ossian Sweet

      Ossian Sweet was an American physician. He is most notable for his Right of self-defense in 1925 of his newly-purchased home in a predominantly White people neighborhood against a mob attempting to force him out of the neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, and the subsequent acquittal by an all-white jury of murder charges against him, his fam...
       / Home (Registered Site S0461, Erected 2004, Detroit)
  • The State Bar of Michigan
    State Bar of Michigan

    The State Bar of Michigan is an organization of lawyers in the State of Michigan. Membership is mandatory for attorneys who practice law in the state....
     has memorialized Frank Murphy in three locations for "Michigan Legal Milestones", namely:
    • Ossian Sweet
      Ossian Sweet

      Ossian Sweet was an American physician. He is most notable for his Right of self-defense in 1925 of his newly-purchased home in a predominantly White people neighborhood against a mob attempting to force him out of the neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, and the subsequent acquittal by an all-white jury of murder charges against him, his fam...
       Murder trial at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice
      Frank Murphy

      William Francis Murphy was a politician and jurist from Michigan. He served asFirst Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District , Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit ....
      , Detroit
    • Justice Murphy authored the 1948 Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.
      Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.

      Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., Case citation , is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that preliminary work activities, where controlled by the employer and performed entirely for the employer's benefit, are properly included as working time under Fair Labor Standards Act....
       decision, which was an important Supreme Court labor law decision interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act
      Fair Labor Standards Act

      The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 , also called the Wages and Hours Bill, is United States federal law that applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or...
      , which arose out of a case involving employee working time. It is located at the Riverfront Gazebo by the Municipal Building in Mount Clemens
      Mount Clemens, Michigan

      Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the United States Census, 2000, the city population was 17,312. It is the county seat of Macomb County, Michigan....
      . It was dedicated on September 1, 1994.
    • Murphy's Dissent in Korematsu v. United States
      Korematsu v. United States

      Korematsu v. United States, Case citation , was a landmark Supreme Court of the United States case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which required Japanese-Americans in the western United States to be excluded from a described West Coast military area....
      , protesting the decision to uphold exclusion orders imposed upon persons of Japanese descent during World War II. The plaque was dedicated and placed in front of the Frank Murphy home in Harbor Beach on August 16, 1996.
  • The University of Detroit has a "Frank Murphy Honor Society."
  • The Sweet Trials: Malice Aforethought is a play written by Arthur Beer, based on the trials of Ossian and Henry Sweet, and derived from Kevin Boyle
    Kevin Boyle

    Kevin Boyle is an American historian, author and professor of history at the Ohio State University. His 2004 book, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, won the National Book Award....
    's Arc of Justice.
  • The Detroit Public Schools
    Detroit Public Schools

    Detroit Public Schools is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is 94,054 ....
     named Frank Murphy School in his honor. It is at 23901 Fenkell in the City of Detroit.
  • Murphy’s estate was probated at $11,000, "not quite enough to satisfy the $12,000 in debts he left behind."
  • Murphy had written to an old friend: “I have never deviated from the path I set out for myself when I first started in public life. . . . So many public servants are new-born liberals only to be sound conservatives the next day, forgetting the inarticulate and the plundered poor.”
  • Frank Murphy's professional motto was: "Speak softly and hit hard."
  • According to one biographer, Murphy's ruling principle in his life was said to be: "I should like to belong to that small company of public servants and others who are content to do some of the homely and modest task of perfecting integrity in government and making government more efficient and orderly."

See also

  • Administrative Procedure Act
    Administrative Procedure Act

    The Administrative Procedure Act is the United States federal law that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations....
  • Adamson v. California
    Adamson v. California

    Adamson v. California, Case citation was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the Incorporation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution of the United States Bill of Rights....
  • Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.
    Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co.

    Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co., Case citation , is a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that preliminary work activities, where controlled by the employer and performed entirely for the employer's benefit, are properly included as working time under Fair Labor Standards Act....
  • Cesar Bengzon
    Cesar Bengzon

    Cesar Bengzon was the Chief Justice of the Philippines from April 28, 1961 until May 29, 1966. In November 1966, a few months after his retirement, he became the first Filipino to be appointed to the International Court of Justice....
  • Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
    Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

    Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire, was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court articulated the fighting words doctrine, a limitation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech....
  • Communications Act of 1934
    Communications Act of 1934

    The Communications Act of 1934 was a United States federal law enacted as Public Law Number 416, Act of June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, by the 73rd Congress, codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq....
  • Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States
    Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States

    The demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States have been raised as an issue since the Court was established in 1789. For its first 180 years, Supreme Court of the United States justices were almost always White people Man Protestantism....
  • Edwards v. California
    Edwards v. California

    Edwards v. People of State of California, was a Supreme Court of the United States case where a California law prohibiting the bringing of a non-resident "indigent person" into the state was struck down as Constitutionality....
  • Ex parte Endo
    Ex parte Endo

    'Ex parte Endo', or 'Ex parte Mitsuye Endo', Case citation , was a United States Supreme Court decision, handed down on December 18 1944, the same day as their decision in Korematsu v....
  • Ex parte Quirin
    Ex parte Quirin

    Ex parte Quirin, , is a Supreme Court of the United States case that upheld the jurisdiction of a United States military tribunal over the trial of several Operation Pastorius German sabotage in the United States....
  • Follett v. Town of McCormick
    Follett v. Town of McCormick

    Follett v. Town of McCormick, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that people who earn their living by selling or distributing religious materials should not be required to pay the same licensing fees and taxes as those who sell or distribute non-religious materials....
  • Francis v. Resweber
    Francis v. Resweber

    State of Louisiana Ex Rel. Francis v. Resweber, , is a case in which the United States Supreme Court of the United States was asked whether imposing capital punishment a second time, after it failed in an attempt to execute Willie Francis in 1946, constituted a violation of the United States Constitution....
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
  • George A. Malcolm
    George A. Malcolm

    George A. Malcolm was an United States lawyer who emerged as an influential figure in the development of the practice of law in the Philippines in the 20th century....
  • Hugo Black
    Hugo Black

    Hugo LaFayette Black was an Politics of the United States and Law of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party , Black represented the U.S....
  • Japanese American Internment
    Japanese American internment

    Japanese American internment refers to the forcible relocation and internment of approximately 110,000 Japanese people and Japanese Americans to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps", in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor....
  • Jim Crow laws
    Jim Crow laws

    The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure Racial segregation in the United States in all public facilities, with a "separate but equal" status for black Americans and members of other non-white racial groups....
  • Jones v. City of Opelika
  • Korematsu v. United States
    Korematsu v. United States

    Korematsu v. United States, Case citation , was a landmark Supreme Court of the United States case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which required Japanese-Americans in the western United States to be excluded from a described West Coast military area....
  • List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
    List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

    This is a list of past and present justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Both Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Justice of the United States are nominated by the President of the United States and Advice and consent by the United States Senate....
  • List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
    List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

    Law clerks have assisted Supreme Court Justices in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in the 1880s. By the traditions and rules that have developed around this procedure today Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on the Supreme Court of the United States have the opportunity to select four...
  • List of United States Chief Justices by time in office
    List of United States Chief Justices by time in office

    This is a list of Chief Justice of the United States by time in office. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater....
  • List of U.S. Supreme Court Justices by time in office
  • List of University of Michigan law and government alumni
    List of University of Michigan law and government alumni

    This is a partial list of notable alumni in law, government and public policy from the University of Michigan. Please refer also to the below list:...
  • Masaharu Homma
    Masaharu Homma

    was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is noteworthy for his role in the invasion and occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Homma, who was an amateur painter and playwright, was also known as the Poet General....
  • Minersville School District v. Gobitis
    Minersville School District v. Gobitis

    Minersville School District v. Gobitis, , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution....
  • Oyama v. California
    Oyama v. California

    Oyama v. State of California, , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that specific provisions of the 1913 and 1920 California California Alien Land Law of 1913 abridged the rights and privileges guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to Fred Oyama, a citizen of the United States in...
  • Prince v. Massachusetts
    Prince v. Massachusetts

    Prince v. Massachusetts, Case citation , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the government has broad authority to regulate the actions and treatment of children....
  • Robert H. Jackson
    Robert H. Jackson

    Robert Houghwout Jackson was United States Attorney General and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States ....
  • Stanley Forman Reed
    Stanley Forman Reed

    Stanley Forman Reed was a noted United States attorney who served as United States Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1938 to 1957....
  • Thornhill v. Alabama
  • Tomoyuki Yamashita
    Tomoyuki Yamashita

    General was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Battle of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, earning the nickname "The Tiger of Malaya"....
  • United Auto Workers
    United Auto Workers

    The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a trade union which represents workers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico....
  • United States Supreme Court cases during the Hughes Court
    List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Hughes Court

    This is a chronological Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by the Supreme Court of the United States during the tenure of Chief Justice of the United States Charles Evans Hughes ....
  • United States Supreme Court cases during the Stone Court
    List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Stone Court

    This is a chronological Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by the Supreme Court of the United States during the tenure of Chief Justice of the United States Harlan Fiske Stone ....
  • United States Supreme Court cases during the Vinson Court
    List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Vinson Court

    This is a chronological Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by the Supreme Court of the United States during the tenure of Chief Justice of the United States Frederick Moore Vinson ....
  • West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
    West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

    West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Case citation , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the Flag of the United States and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school....
  • Wolf v. Colorado
    Wolf v. Colorado

    Wolf v. Colorado, Case citation was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held 6-3 that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did not impose specific limitations on criminal justice in the states, and that illegally obtained evidence did not necessarily have to be excluded from trials in all cases....
  • Yakus v. United States
    Yakus v. United States

    Yakus v. United States, Case citation , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which upheld congressional power to fetter judicial review and to delegate broad and flexible law-making power to an administrative agency in this constitutional challenge to the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942....


Further reading

  • Abraham, Henry J. Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. 3d. ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). ISBN 0-19-506557-3.
  • , American National Biography
    American National Biography

    The American National Biography is a 24 volume set containing approximately 17,400 entries and 20 million words. It was published in 1999 as, according to its preface in Volume 1, the successor to the Dictionary of American Biography which was first published between 1926 and 1937....
    .
  • Arnold, Thurman Wesley. "Mr. Justice Murphy." 63 Harvard Law Review
    Harvard Law Review

    The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School....
     289 (1949).
  • Baulch, Vivian M. and Zacharias, Patricia, , The Detroit News
    The Detroit News

    The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the United States city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873 when it rented space in the rival Detroit Free Press's building....
    .
  • Barnet, Vincent M., Jr. "Mr. Justice Murphy, Civil Liberties
    Civil liberties

    Civil liberties are Freedom that protect the individual from the government. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its Political power and interfere with the lives of its citizens....
     and the Holmes'
    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an United States jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. Noted for his long service, his concise and pithy opinions, and his deference to the decisions of elected legislatures, he is one of the most widely cited United States Supreme Court justices in history, particularly...
     Tradition." 32 Cornell Law Quarterly 177 (1946).
  • Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976.
  • Black, Hugo L., "Mr. Justice Murphy." 48 Michigan Law Review
    Michigan Law Review

    The Michigan Law Review is one of the oldest American law reviews, having begun publication in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the University of Michigan Law School of the University of Michigan, approached the Dean with a proposal for a law journal....
     739 (1950).
  • Boyle, Kevin
    Kevin Boyle

    Kevin Boyle is an American historian, author and professor of history at the Ohio State University. His 2004 book, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, won the National Book Award....
    , Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age (Henry Holt & Company, New York: 2004). (National Book Award
    National Book Award

    The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. Started in 1950, the awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the prior year, as well as lifetime achievement awards including the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" and the "Literarian Award"....
     Winner) ISBN 0805079335; ISBN 978-0805079333.
  • Cushman, Clare. The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies,1789-1995 (2nd ed.) (Supreme Court Historical Society), (Congressional Quarterly Books, 2001) ISBN 1568021267; ISBN 9781568021263.
  • Fine, Sidney, Frank Murphy in World War I. (Ann Arbor: Michigan Historical Collections, 1968) Photos, 44 pp.
  • Fine, Sidney, Frank Murphy: The Detroit Years. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
    University of Michigan Press

    The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is part of the University of Michigan. It was founded in 1930 as a publisher of books dedicated to imparting important scholarly research....
    , 1975) 618 pages. ISBN 0472329499.
  • Fine, Sidney, Frank Murphy: The New Deal Years. (Chicago: University of Chicago
    University of Chicago

    The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park, Chicago neighborhood of Chicago. Although an older university by the same name existed prior to its founding, the modern University of Chicago credits its founding to the oil magnate John D....
     Press, 1979) ISBN 0226249344; ISBN 9780226249346; ISBN 0226658716.
  • Fine, Sidney, Frank Murphy. Volume 3, The Washington Years (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984) ISBN 0472100467.
  • Fine, Sidney, Frank Murphy. 3 vols. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1975-1984). ISBN 0472329499, ISBN 9780472329496.
  • Fine, Sidney, Sit-down: The General Motors Strike of 1936-1937. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1969). ISBN 9780472329489; ISBN 0472329480; ISBN 039511778X.
  • Frank, John P., The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions 5 vols.,(Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, editors) (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995) ISBN 0791013774, ISBN 978-0791013779.
  • Friend, Theodore, Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines, 1929-1946 (1965).
  • Holli, Melvin G., The American Mayor: The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University
    Pennsylvania State University

    The Pennsylvania State University is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Land-grant university, space grant college public research university located in State College, PA, Pennsylvania, United States....
     Press, 1999.) xi + 210 pp. Photographs, appendices, notes, and index. ISBN 978-0-271-01877-5; ISBN 0-271-01876-3.
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    . "Mr. Justice Murphy and Civil Rights
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External links

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  • National Governors' Association,
  • Oyez
    Oyez.org

    Oyez.org is a database and comprehensive online guide to the Supreme Court of the United States. It contains biography of both incumbent and historical justices of the United States Supreme Court, in addition to details of most Supreme Court Legal case....
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    The Detroit News

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    United States Department of Justice

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