Who appointed Michael R. Murphy?

President William J. Clinton appointed Michael R. Murphy to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1995.

Was Michael R. Murphy appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Michael R. Murphy was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Michael R. Murphy's confirmation vote?

Michael R. Murphy was confirmed by voice vote on August 11, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

Tenth Circuit / Appointed 1995 / Senior status since 2012

Michael R. Murphy

Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1995 and confirmed by voice vote, Michael R. Murphy is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He earned a law degree from University of Wyoming College of Law in 1972. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1947 · age 79
Appointed by: William J. Clinton, 1995
Confirmed: by voice vote
Education: Creighton 1969 · University of Wyoming College of Law 1972
Succeeded: Monroe G. McKay
Succeeded by: Carolyn Baldwin McHugh

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1995	Tenth Circuit succeeded Monroe G. McKay	Clinton (D)	Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

Creighton University	B.A.	1969
University of Wyoming College of Law	J.D.	1972

Judicial Record

In our data, Murphy authored 1 published opinion for the court (2008). Most cited: United States v. Ary (67 citations).

Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Selected opinions

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2008	United States v. Ary	518 F.3d 775	67

Showing the 1 most-cited of 1 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Michael R. Murphy?: President William J. Clinton appointed Michael R. Murphy to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1995.
Was Michael R. Murphy appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Michael R. Murphy was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Michael R. Murphy's confirmation vote?: Michael R. Murphy was confirmed by voice vote on August 11, 1995. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court is Michael R. Murphy on?: Michael R. Murphy is a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

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31 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).