[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 17 (Thursday, January 26, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H342-H343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING JUDGE HAROLD MURPHY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Ms. Greene) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a man who 
devoted his life to the service and protection of our Nation, Judge 
Harold Murphy.
  Born in Felton, Georgia, in 1927, Judge Murphy attended West Georgia 
College before serving in the Navy toward the end of World War II. He 
resumed his studies at the University of Mississippi and the University 
of Georgia's School of Law, where he graduated in 1949. He began a law 
practice in Haralson County, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the 
Georgia House of Representatives as the youngest member at that time.
  Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms before stepping down in 
1961 to focus on practicing law. In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by 
Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for the Tallapoosa Judicial 
Circuit. Following his election in 1976, President Carter nominated 
Judge Murphy to the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of Georgia. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 28, 1977.
  For 45 years, he served his country on the Federal bench and became 
an acclaimed jurist and legal icon with a stellar reputation that 
extended far beyond Georgia. He always displayed a quick wit and a keen 
sense of humor, was kind and empathetic, and treated all those who 
appeared before him with courtesy and respect.
  Judge Murphy once subpoenaed a talking myna bird who had 
``witnessed'' a store robbery to testify in court. Judge Murphy's humor 
was only surpassed by his fairness and prudential impartiality. In 
fact, he is the only judge that was known to receive Christmas cards 
from inmates in prison that Judge Murphy himself had put away.

                              {time}  1030

  He was so excruciatingly fair and impartial that during one case he 
even talked the defendant out of a guilty plea. Judge Murphy worked 
tirelessly and carried a full docket until the age of 90, when he took 
senior judge status in the Northern District of Georgia. He continued 
to preside over cases until his death on December 28, 2022.
  Judge Murphy received many professional awards and recognitions, 
including from the State Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia 
School of Law.
  In 2014, Alabama State University renamed its graduate school after 
Judge Murphy in recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. 
Alabama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals 
asked him to handle involving the vestiges of racial segregation then 
present in the Alabama University system.
  Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving and devoted husband and 
father, and a strong role model who made everyone who knew him in 
northwest Georgia proud.
  The daily sight of Judge Murphy leading his gaggle of clerks to lunch 
on Broad Street will be deeply missed by the community in Rome that he 
loved so much and that loved him back.
  The people of the 14th District of Georgia therefore urge the House 
to

[[Page H343]]

pass this bill to name the building at 600 East First Street in Rome, 
Georgia, the Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United States 
Courthouse.

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