Murphy, Frank, 1890–1949, American political figure, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1940–49), b. Harbor Beach, Mich. After serving as a U.S. attorney (1919–20) and as a judge of recorder's court (1923–30), he was elected mayor of Detroit in 1930 and was widely recognized for his relief efforts. He resigned to become governor-general (1933–35) and later (1935–36) U.S. high commissioner in the Philippine Islands. Elected governor of Michigan in 1936, his settlement of the automobile strike (1937) in Flint, Mich., made him a national figure. In Jan., 1939, Murphy, a New Deal Democrat, was appointed U.S. Attorney General and served until his appointment to the Supreme Court. For a short time in 1942 he left the bench to serve as an army officer. Justice Murphy's opinions reflected his ardent liberalism. In his dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. United States (1944), he stated that the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans was unconstitutional.

Bibliography

See study by S. Fine (1979).

Murphy, Frank

orig. William Francis Murphy

Frank Murphy

(credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

(born April 13, 1890, Harbor Beach, Mich., U.S.—died July 19, 1949, Detroit, Mich.) U.S. Supreme Court justice (1940–49). After serving in World War I, he held several elective posts, including mayor of Detroit (1930–33). He was governor-general (1933–35) and U.S. high commissioner (1935–36) of the Philippines. Elected governor of Michigan (1937–38), he refused to use troops to break sit-down strikes by automobile workers. As U.S. attorney general (1939–40), he established the Justice Department's civil rights unit. Appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, he strongly defended civil rights and dissented in a case upholding the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Murphy, Frank (1890–1949) Supreme Court justice; born in Harbor Beach, Mich. His diverse political career included posts as mayor of Detroit (1930), as governor general then high commissioner of the Philippines (1933–35), and as U.S. attorney general (1939–40). President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1940–49).