Biography
Judge Diana E. Murphy has served on the United States Court of Appeals since her appointment in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. Previously she served as United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota from 1980 to 1994 (appointed by President Jimmy Carter) where she was Chief Judge from 1992 to 1994.
Judge Murphy was Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from 1999 to 2004. Before moving to the federal court, she was a state trial judge, and earlier, a trial lawyer with Lindquist & Vennum. In November 2016, Judge Murphy assumed senior status on the Eighth Circuit.
Judge Murphy has been active in many judicial and legal organizations, including as President of the Federal Judges Association, Chair of the American Judicature Society, board member of the Federal Judicial Center, and Chair of the Judges Advisory Committee to the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Minnesota where she received her undergraduate and law degrees magna cum laude.
Judge Murphy was married to Joseph Murphy from 1958 until his death in August 2015, and she has two wonderful sons (Michael and John) and two lively granddaughters (Laura and Frances).
Related Articles
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, "Remembrance of Judge Diana E. Murphy" (2018). Minnesota Law Review 46. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/46
The Honorable Diana E. Murphy: Portrait Ceremony, The Historical Society of the United States Courts in the Eighth Circuit, https://perma.cc/KC29-RQW2.
