II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4536 

To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located 

at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, as the ‘‘Harold L. Murphy 

Federal Building and United States Courthouse’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2024 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself and Mr. WARNOCK) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, 

as the ‘‘Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United 

States Courthouse’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Judge Harold L. Murphy was born in 

6 Felton, Georgia, in 1927. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 4536 IS

1 (2) He attended West Georgia College before 

2 serving in the United States Navy during the closing 

3 years of World War II. 

4 (3) He resumed his studies at the University of 

5 Mississippi and the University of Georgia School of 

6 Law, where he graduated in 1949. 

7 (4) He began a law practice in Haralson Coun8 ty, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the Georgia 

9 House of Representatives as the youngest Member 

10 at the time. 

11 (5) Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms 

12 before stepping down in 1961 to focus on practicing 

13 law. 

14 (6) In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by 

15 Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for 

16 the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, and following his 

17 election in 1976, President Carter nominated Judge 

18 Murphy to the United States District Court for the 

19 Northern District of Georgia. 

20 (7) Judge Murphy was confirmed by the United 

21 States Senate on July 28, 1977. 

22 (8) For 45 years, he served his country on the 

23 Federal bench and became an acclaimed jurist and 

24 legal icon with a stellar reputation that extended far 

25 beyond Georgia. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 4536 IS

1 (9) He always displayed a quick wit and a keen 

2 sense of humor, was kind and empathetic, and treat3 ed all those who appeared before him with courtesy 

4 and respect. 

5 (10) Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and car6 ried a full docket until the age of 90, when he took 

7 senior judge status in the Northern District of Geor8 gia. 

9 (11) He continued to preside over cases until 

10 his death on December 28, 2022. 

11 (12) Judge Murphy received many professional 

12 awards and recognitions, including from the State 

13 Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia School 

14 of Law. 

15 (13) In 2014, Alabama State University re16 named its graduate school after Judge Murphy in 

17 recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. Ala18 bama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit 

19 Court of Appeals asked him to handle involving the 

20 vestiges of racial segregation then present in the 

21 Alabama University System. 

22 (14) Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving 

23 and devoted husband and father—and a strong role 

24 model. 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 4536 IS

1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION. 

2 The Federal building and United States courthouse 

3 located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, shall 

4 be known and designated as the ‘‘Harold L. Murphy Fed5 eral Building and United States Courthouse’’. 

6 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

7 Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, 

8 paper, or other record of the United States to the Federal 

9 building and United States courthouse referred to in sec10 tion 2 shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Harold 

11 L. Murphy Federal Building and United States Court12 house’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB