Stephen Murphy was born in St. Louis,Missouri. After graduating from high school in 1980,Murphy attended Marquette University. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics with a minor in English and graduated in 1984. He then attended Saint Louis University School of Law,where he edited the law review,served on the Moot Court Board,and won the White Family Fellowship in Public Law.[2] Murphy graduated from law school in 1987.[3]
Legal career
Murphy as U.S. Attorney
Following law school,Murphy served as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice from 1987 to 1992,hired under the Attorney General's Honors Program. Murphy worked in the Civil and Tax Divisions in Washington,D.C.,where he defended various federal agencies and prosecuted criminal tax cases in federal district courts throughout the United States. Next,Murphy worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in Detroit from 1992 to 2000 where he prosecuted and tried various violent crimes,illegal narcotics cases,and several high-profile white collar criminal cases in Detroit's federal court. Following his time as Assistant United States Attorney,Murphy was an attorney with the General Motors Legal Staff in Detroit from 2000 to 2005,where he specialized in litigation,internal investigations,counseling on various business law issues,and other "white collar" matters. He served during that period as a public arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers.[4][5]
On March 9,2005,Murphy began serving as the United States Attorney in Detroit,Michigan,pending full Senate confirmation. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on June 8,2005. He was preceded by Jeffery Collins. During his term,Murphy worked to create innovative programs regarding national security and violent crime issues. He also strove to strengthen the US Attorney's ties with federal and local law enforcement and with the community at large. Overseeing operations in Detroit,Flint,and Bay City,Murphy led one of the largest and busiest US Attorney's offices in the country. During this time,Murphy also chaired the local U.S. Attorney General's Anti-Terrorism Advisory Committee and the Michigan High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area ("HIDTA") group.[citation needed]
Murphy,along with Kethledge and White,received a joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 7,2008[8] and was confirmed on June 24,2008.[9] He received his judicial commission on August 18,2008. He became the chief judge on July 28,2025 when Sean Cox retired from the bench.[3][10]
Murphy was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules for the Judicial Conference of the United States,and he is currently the chair of the Committee on Intercircuit Assignments.[12] In addition,Murphy has presided over cases in multiple federal district and circuit courts as a visiting judge.[12]
Notable cases
Acts 17 Apologetics v. City of Dearborn,No. 2:11-cv-10700,2012 WL 12961117(E.D. Mich.Feb. 7,2012). While attending an Arab International Festival in an effort to prevent conversions to Islam,a group of evangelical Christians was arrested after a festival worker claimed that one member threatened his safety.[13] The Acts 17 members were acquitted of the charges by a jury. Subsequently,the Acts 17 members,including Nabeel Qureshi,filed action against the city,ten city employees,and two Arab American Chamber of Commerce officials with a twelve-count complaint alleging violations of defamation,assault,battery,and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The defendants moved for partial judgment,which Murphy denied.
United States v. Liggins,No. 22-1236(6th Cir.2023). In a January 23,2020 hearing in a criminal case involving a Black defendant,Murphy commented in reference to the defendant,"This guy looks like a criminal to me." On August 3,2023,on an appeal of the defendant's subsequent conviction,the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the conviction,ordered a retrial,and directed that the case be reassigned to a different district judge. The Sixth Circuit reasoned that Murphy's "unacceptable remarks ... raise[d] the spectre of [racial] bias" and that "a reasonable observer could have interpreted the remark to indicate a prejudgment of [the defendant's] guilt based on [his] physical appearance."[14][15]
Sturgill v. American Red Cross,No. 2:22-cv-11837 (E.D. Mich. 2025) - An American Red Cross nurse was terminated from her job after refusing to comply with the Red Cross' COVID-19vaccine mandate. Sturgill subsequently filed suit against the Red Cross,claiming that she had a sincerely held religious belief and should have been granted a religious accommodation. Murphy presided over the jury trial in the case.[16]
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