William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890 – July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge from Michigan. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940. His career included serving as United States Attorney General, 35th governor of Michigan, and Mayor of Detroit. He also held the positions of last Governor-General of the Philippines and first High Commissioner to the Philippines.

Murphy was born in "The Thumb" region of Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1914. After serving in the United States Army during World War I, he worked as a federal attorney and trial judge. He was Mayor of Detroit from 1930 to 1933. In 1993, a group of 69 scholars ranked him among the ten best mayors in American history. In 1933, he was appointed Governor-General of the Philippine Islands. He returned to the United States in 1936 and won the 1936 Michigan gubernatorial election against Republican candidate Frank Fitzgerald. He served one term as Governor of Michigan but lost re-election to Fitzgerald in 1938. The following year, he became United States Attorney General.

In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Murphy to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Pierce Butler, who had died. Murphy remained on the Court until his death in 1949. He was succeeded by Tom C. Clark. Murphy wrote the majority opinions in the cases Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire and SEC v. W. J. Howey Co.. He also wrote a dissenting opinion in the case Korematsu v. United States.

Early life

Murphy was born in Harbor Beach (then called Sand Beach), Michigan, in 1890. His parents, John T. Murphy and Mary Brennan, were Irish immigrants who raised him as a devout Catholic. He became a lawyer, following his father’s career path. Murphy studied at the University of Michigan Law School, where he earned a BA in 1912 and an LLB in 1914. He was part of the Sigma Chi fraternity and the senior society Michigamua.

In 1914, Murphy was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan. Afterward, he worked as a clerk for a Detroit law firm for three years. He later joined the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I, reaching the rank of captain in the occupation army in Germany before leaving the military in 1919. Afterward, he stayed abroad to continue his education. He studied at Lincoln’s Inn in London and Trinity College, Dublin, experiences that helped shape his ideas about justice. He focused on making fair decisions based on a broader understanding of justice, rather than relying only on technical legal arguments. One commentator noted that during his time on the Supreme Court, he "tempered justice with Murphy."

Career

Murphy was appointed as the first Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan on August 9, 1919. He was one of three assistant attorneys in the office.

When Murphy began his career as a federal attorney, the workload of the attorney's office was increasing quickly because of the many prosecutions related to national prohibition. The government’s strong record of winning convictions in the Eastern District was partly because Murphy won all but one of the cases he prosecuted. While working as a federal attorney, Murphy also practiced law privately in a limited way. He resigned his position as a United States attorney on March 1, 1922. He received several offers to join private law firms but decided to start his own practice and formed a partnership with Edward G. Kemp in Detroit.

Murphy ran for the United States Congress as a Democrat in 1920 but did not win. At that time, Republicans won most elections in Michigan. However, Murphy used his legal reputation and growing political connections to win a seat on the Recorder’s Court, which is Detroit’s criminal court. In 1923, he was elected judge of the Recorder’s Court on a non-partisan ticket, receiving one of the largest majorities ever for a judge in Detroit. He took office on January 1, 1924, and served for seven years during the Prohibition era.

As a judge, Murphy gained a reputation for being fair and skilled in trials. He presided over the murder trials of Dr. Ossian Sweet and his brother, Henry Sweet, in 1925 and 1926. Clarence Darrow, a well-known trial lawyer, led the defense team. After an initial trial ended without a verdict for the Black defendants, Henry Sweet—who admitted firing the weapon that killed someone during a mob attack on his home—was retried separately and was found not guilty by an all-white jury based on the right to self-defense. The prosecution then decided not to pursue charges against the other defendants. Murphy’s decisions during the trial were important in the case’s outcome.

In 1930, Murphy ran as a Democrat and was elected Mayor of Detroit. He served from 1930 to 1933 during the early years of the Great Depression. He managed a crisis when 100,000 people in Detroit were unemployed in 1931. He created an unemployment committee made up of private citizens from businesses, churches, and social service groups to identify people who needed help. The committee raised money for relief efforts, provided food and clothing to those in need, and included a legal aid team to help with legal problems. In 1933, Murphy organized the first convention of the United States Conference of Mayors in Detroit. He met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was elected the first president of the group, serving until 1933.

Murphy supported President Roosevelt and the New Deal, helping Roosevelt win Michigan for the first time since 1852. A 1993 survey of historians and experts ranked Murphy as the seventh-best mayor of a large American city between 1820 and 1993. The survey described Murphy as an excellent leader.

In 1933, after completing his second term as mayor, Roosevelt appointed Murphy as Governor-General of the Philippine Islands. In 1935, more than 6,000 mostly poor and uneducated farmers attacked government buildings in Manila because of poor economic conditions. Government forces responded with gunfire, killing 100 people. During Murphy’s time as governor, many Filipino landowners used private armies to stop peasant uprisings. Murphy showed concern for poor Filipinos, especially tenant farmers, and suggested land reforms near the end of his governorship.

The Murphy administration also raised tariffs on Japanese goods in 1934. Japan’s Consul General warned Manila that this might cause problems and urged the Philippines not to trust Chinese propaganda. In his final months as governor, Murphy asked for the release of jailed peasant rebels, as he felt sympathy for the working class.

When his position as governor-general was abolished in 1935, Murphy continued as United States High Commissioner until 1936. That year, he was a delegate from the Philippine Islands to the Democratic National Convention.

The title of High Commissioner to the Philippines was created by the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934. It was meant to help the Philippines transition from American rule to independence by 1946.

In 1936, Murphy was elected the 35th governor of Michigan, defeating Republican Frank Fitzgerald. He served one two-year term. During his time in office, Michigan started an unemployment compensation system and improved mental health programs.

The United Automobile Workers held a historic sit-down strike at General Motors’ Flint plant. The Flint Sit-Down Strike was a turning point for labor rights. After 27 people were injured in a clash between workers and police, Murphy sent the National Guard to protect the workers, ignored a court order to remove the strikers, and refused to stop the strike. He helped negotiate an agreement that ended the conflict. General Motors recognized the United Automobile Workers as a bargaining group under the National Labor Relations Act. This recognition greatly increased union membership, with the UAW growing from 30,000 to 500,000 members in one year. The British Broadcasting Corporation later called this strike “the strike heard round the world.”

In 1938, Murphy lost his governor’s race to Fitzgerald, who became the only Michigan governor to serve before and after the same person.

In 1939, Roosevelt appointed Murphy the 56th attorney general of the United States. He created a Civil Liberties Unit in the Department of Justice to protect civil rights and the Bill of Rights.

One year later, on January 4, 1940, Roosevelt nominated Murphy as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court to replace Pierce Butler. The Senate confirmed Murphy on January 16, and he was sworn in on February 5, 1940. Murphy’s appointment came at a time when the Supreme Court was transitioning between different leaderships. After Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone died, Murphy served under Chief Justice Frederick Moore Vinson, who was confirmed in 1946. During World War II, Murphy served in the Army Reserve for three months in 1942 while the court was not in session. He worked as an executive officer to General George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Death and memory

Frank Murphy passed away in his sleep at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on July 19, 1949, due to a coronary thrombosis at the age of 59. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral in Detroit. He is buried in Our Lady of Lake Huron Catholic Cemetery in Sand Beach Township, Michigan, near Harbor Beach.

The Frank Murphy Hall of Justice was once the location of Detroit's Recorder's Court and now houses part of Michigan's Third Judicial Circuit Court. A plaque on the first floor honors Murphy and is recognized as a Michigan Legal Milestone.

Outside the Hall of Justice stands a statue titled "The Hand of God" by Carl Milles. This artwork was created in honor of Murphy and funded by the United Automobile Workers. It shows a nude figure emerging from the left hand of God. The statue was commissioned in 1949 and completed in 1953 but was stored for over 15 years partly because of the depiction of nudity. It was later chosen as a tribute to Murphy by Walter P. Reuther and Ira W. Jayne. The statue was placed on a pedestal in 1970 with the help of sculptor Marshall Fredericks, who studied under Milles.

Murphy is also honored in his hometown of Harbor Beach, Michigan, with a museum located at his former residence. The museum displays many personal items from his life and career, especially those from his time in the Philippines. The Murphy Museum is open during the summer months by appointment.

Murphy's personal and official papers are preserved at the Bentley Historical Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and are available for research. This collection includes an oral history project about Murphy. His letters and other official documents are also stored in libraries across the country.

To honor Murphy, who was one of three University of Michigan Law School alumni to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, John H. Pickering, a Washington, D.C.–based attorney who once worked as Murphy’s law clerk, donated a large amount of money to the law school. This donation established the Frank Murphy Seminar Room.

Murphy received an Honorary Doctorate of Law degree from the University of Michigan in 1939. The University of Detroit also has a Frank Murphy Honor Society.

The play The Sweet Trials: Malice Aforethought, written by Arthur Beer, is based on the trials of Ossian and Henry Sweet and is inspired by Kevin Boyle’s book Arc of Justice.

Frank Murphy Elementary School in Detroit Public Schools is named in his honor.

Personal life

Murphy never married or had children. People talked about his personal life for many years, including rumors about his sexuality. A book called Courting Justice: Gay Men and Lesbians v. The Supreme Court mentions that Murphy had a close relationship with someone named Kemp. His biographer, historian Sidney Fine, found a letter in Murphy’s personal papers. The letter suggests that Murphy and the writer of the letter may have had a close relationship in the past. The writer mentioned this happened while Murphy was governor-general and praised Murphy for being chosen to serve on the Supreme Court.

Murphy had two important female friends. Ann Parker was often seen riding horses with Murphy in Washington during his time as U.S. Attorney General. This led to some people guessing they might have had a romantic relationship. When Murphy died, he was engaged to Joan Cuddihy, and their wedding was planned for the next month.