Minnesota politicians and court officials on Wednesday named a federal courthouse in Minneapolis after Diana E. Murphy, a judge who blazed the trail for women on the bench.
Minneapolis is now home to the second federal courthouse in the nation named for a woman, following the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix, said Minnesota Chief Federal Judge John Tunheim in a statement.
"From her time as a judge with the District of Minnesota, to her years on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, she served with tenacity and grace," Tunheim said. "It is wholly fitting that this courthouse be renamed in her honor, close to the 40th anniversary of her first appointment to the federal bench in 1980."
Murphy, who died last year at age 84, was the first woman appointed to the bench of Minnesota's Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She was known as an advocate for education and a pioneer for women in the courtroom.
"She was a mentor and friend to me and so many others," Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement. "While she is no longer with us, renaming the federal courthouse is a fitting tribute to her legacy as a trailblazer for justice and inclusion in our legal system."
