Thomas Francis Murphy

Thomas Francis Murphy (December 3, 1905 – October 26, 1995), often referred to as "Thomas F. Murphy" or simply "Thomas Murphy," was a federal prosecutor and judge in New York City.

Murphy was born in Manhattan, where he attended Regis High School. His grandfather was a police officer and his father chief clerk of the city's Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity. He earned a B.A. from Georgetown University in 1927 and graduated from Fordham Law School in 1930. He was an attorney in private practice until 1942.

From 1942 to 1950, Murphy served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Manhattan. He became head of its criminal division in 1944 and in 1949-50 served as prosecutor in the two perjury trials of Alger Hiss, winning a conviction in the second after the first ended in a hung jury.

Murphy served briefly as New York City Police Commissioner from September 1950 to June 1951. At the time of his appointment, the New York Times described him as "a reader of Proust as a change from law books" and said that members of all political parties greeted his appointment with such unaninimity as to suggest that he was "certain of continued tenure if he does the job expected of him". After he resigned to become a federal judge, New York City Mayor Vincent Impellitteri said Murphy had laid the groundwork for ridding the department of corruption: "He had restored the self respect of police officers who had suffered through the greed of their corrupt comrades."

In June 1951, President Harry S. Truman nominated Murphy to serve as a District Judge of the District Court for the Southern District of New York, succeeding Harold Medina, whom Truman named to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Murphy was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 29, 1951, and received his commission on July 2, 1951.

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