Stephen Murphy III

Stephen Joseph Murphy III (born in St. Louis, Missouri, September 23, 1962) is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2005-2008.

On June 28, 2006, Murphy was nominated with Raymond M. Kethledge by President George W. Bush to fill two vacancies for the state of Michigan on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Murphy was to occupy a seat made vacant by the death of Susan Bieke Neilson. At the time, the Senate was controlled by the Republicans. After the Democrats regained control of the Senate in November 2006, Democratic Michigan senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow balked at confirming any more Bush nominees from their state to the Sixth Circuit.

On April 15, 2008, as part of a deal to unblock this logjam, Bush renominated failed Clinton nominee Helene White to the Sixth Circuit, more than eleven years after her first nomination. She replaced Murphy as the nominee to fill Neilson's empty seat, while Murphy was nominated to replace Judge Patrick Duggan on the U.S. District Court, a vacancy that had sat unfilled since 2000. In return for White's renomination, Levin and Stabenow agreed to allow Kethledge to be confirmed as a circuit court judge.

Kethledge, Murphy and White received a joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 7, 2008, and were voted out of committee on June 12, 2008. On June 24, 2008, all three were confirmed. Kethledge and White were confirmed by voice vote. "It's a huge thrill and an enormous honor," Murphy told the Detroit Free Press in an article that was published on June 26, 2008. [http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS06/806260388/1008/NEWS Quick move seen in naming attorney | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press ] ]

Murphy is a resident of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

References

External links

* [http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=3180 Federal Judicial Center Profile]
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080415-3.html White House nomination]
*Thomas, Ken, " [http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-52/120829555251270.xml&storylist=newsmichigan Bush nominates Michigan appellate judge to 6th Circuit slot] ," "The Associated Press", April 15, 2008.
*Egan, Paul, and Trowbridge, Gordon, " [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/METRO/804150457/1409/METRO U.S. Attorney in Detroit nominated to federal bench] ," "The Detroit News", April 15, 2008.