WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Tom Emmer’s legislation to rename the federal courthouse in Minneapolis after Judge Diana Murphy, the first woman to serve on the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has passed in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Judge Murphy spent 38 years as a federal judge, including five years as the chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. She began serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in 1980 and served as Chief Judge from 1992 to 1994, when she was appointed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Murphy served as the first and only woman on that federal appellate bench until 2013. Judge Murphy passed away earlier this year.

“Judge Diana Murphy was the first woman to serve on the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and she was a tireless advocate for putting more women on the bench,” Klobuchar said. “Judge Murphy stood up for others and she did it with humor, joy and awe-inspiring achievement. She was a mentor and a friend, and this is a fitting tribute to a legal trailblazer.”

“Judge Diana E. Murphy, the only woman to serve on the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for nearly two decades, was a trailblazer with an incredible career in public service,” Emmer said. “While dozens of courthouses in our state bear the names of impactful Minnesotans, the Minneapolis federal courthouse does not. Renaming it in Judge Murphy’s honor would serve as a fitting tribute to her impressive legacy.”

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