Frank Murphy

Details

Birth

April 13, 1890 · Harbor Beach, Michigan

Death

July 19, 1949

Law school

michigan, university of

Prior experience

Various legal and public service prior to appointment

Biography

Frank Murphy (April 13, 1890 – July 19, 1949) served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1940 until his death. Born in Harbor Beach, Michigan, to Irish Catholic immigrants, Murphy graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1914 and briefly studied at Lincoln's Inn in London. After serving as an infantry captain in World War I, he began his legal and political career in Detroit, where he served as a federal prosecutor and later as mayor from 1930 to 1933. His political ascent continued when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Governor-General of the Philippines (1935-1936) and subsequently Governor of Michigan (1937-1938), before naming him U.S. Attorney General in 1939. Roosevelt nominated Murphy to the Supreme Court in January 1940, and he was confirmed by the Senate. On the Court, Murphy emerged as a staunch civil libertarian and champion of individual rights, consistently voting to expand protections for minorities, labor unions, and criminal defendants. His most significant opinion came in Korematsu v. United States (1944), where he wrote a powerful dissent condemning the internment of Japanese Americans as falling into the "ugly abyss of racism." Murphy also authored the majority opinion in Thornhill v. Alabama (1940), which extended First Amendment protections to peaceful labor picketing. Though sometimes criticized by legal scholars for prioritizing moral convictions over legal precedent, Murphy's passionate advocacy for civil liberties and human dignity established him as a progressive voice during his nine years on the Court. His legacy endures as a defender of constitutional rights for marginalized groups during a transformative period in American jurisprudence.

Notable opinions

• Korematsu v. United States
• Skinner v. Oklahoma