Michael R. Murphy

Michael Roland Murphy (born August 6, 1947) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Early life and education

Murphy was born in Denver, Colorado in 1947. His family later moved to a small town in Wyoming. In 1955, he began playing little league baseball and discovered his lifelong hero, Roberto Clemente. At 13, his mother sent him to a boarding school in Kansas so he could get a good education.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Creighton University in 1969. In 1972, he earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Wyoming College of Law.

Judicial career

In 1986, Governor Norman Bangerter appointed him a judge of the Third District Court of Utah. In 1990, he became the presiding judge of that court, where he remained until his appointment to the Tenth Circuit in 1995.

Professional associations and memberships Sutherland Inns of Court II, 1990–1991, President Board of District Court Judges, 1989–1990, Member American Bar Association, 1973–Present, Member Utah State Bar, 1973–Present, Member Wyoming State Bar Association, 1972–Present, Member The Tenth District Court of Appeals upheld McVeigh's conviction and sentence. The full opinion can be found here

Opinions

Yes on Term Limits v. Savage, 550 F.3d 1023 (10th Cir. 2008)

Held: Oklahoma's ban on non-resident petition circulators violates the First Amendment.

This case was significant because it allows citizens to seek help from non-resident workers to petition the government. Without this resource, many citizens would find it difficult to make change.

Alto Eldorado Partnership v. County of Santa Fe, 634 F.3d 1170 (10th Cir. 2011)

Held: Property developer's takings claim was not ripe because developer had not utilized available state procedures to seek just compensation.

United States v. McCane, 573 F.3d 1037 (10th Cir. 2009)

Held: The good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies to a search justified under the settled case law of a United States Court of Appeals, even if the search is rendered unconstitutional by a subsequent Supreme Court decision.

In re Qwest Communications International, Inc., 450 F.3d 1179 (10th Cir. 2006)

Held: Corporation waived attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine, as to third-party civil litigants, by releasing privileged materials to federal agencies in the course of the agencies' investigation of the corporation.

Prison Legal News v. Executive Office for United States Attorneys, 628 F.3d 1243 (10th Cir. 2011)

Held: The Government can invoke the Freedom of Information Act's personal privacy exemption even though it previously disclosed the records during a public trial.

O'Connor v. Washburn University, 416 F.3d 1216 (10th Cir. 2005)

Held: Plaintiffs, a student and an employee of a public university, had standing to challenge an allegedly anti-Catholic statue displayed on the grounds of the university.