Laura W. Murphy

Laura W. Murphy (born October 3, 1955) is an American lobbyist and civil rights activist. She served as the director of the Washington Legislative Office for the American Civil Liberties Union from 1993 to 2005.

Early life, family, and education Murphy was born on October 3, 1955 in Baltimore to Madeline Wheeler Murphy, a community activist, and judge William H. Murphy Sr., one of the first African-American judges to serve on Baltimore's district court. She is the sister of Judge Billy Murphy Jr. She is a direct descendent of Philip Livingston, a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence. She graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor of arts degree in 1976. With ACLU, Murphy helped pass the Fair Sentencing Act and the USA Freedom Act and testified over a dozen times before the United States Congress. She led civil rights audits of Airbnb in 2016 and Facebook in 2020.

She is a member of the Ruth Brewster Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C. In 2012, she attended the DAR's annual Continental Congress in Washington, D.C. and read from the Declaration of Independence at an Independence Day celebration.