Thursday, May 17, 2018

Judge Diana E. Murphy (1934 - 2018)

Last night, I received the very sad news that Judge Diana E. Murphy had passed away. She was 84.

As many of you know, I clerked for Judge Murphy from 2012 through 2013 (occasioning the great and terrible one year blackout of this blog). It was one of the great honors and great joys of my life. While I knew she was having health problems, I'm still in a bit of shock -- I'm in Minnesota right now, and I was actually planning on visiting her in chambers today before getting the news from one of my co-clerks last night.

Among the many, many friends and colleagues who adored her, I'm exceedingly lucky to be one of those writing a tribute to her that will be published in the Minnesota Law Review in a few months. For now, I'll just say that Judge Murphy was an inspiration in every possible sense of the term: she was smart, she was empathetic, she was caring, she was funny, and she was kind. There's no other judge I'd rather have clerked for, and I'm unaccountably fortunate to have had her in my life.

She was widely loved, and she'll be missed. Rest in peace, Judge.

No comments: