Melissa Murray (academic) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Melissa Murray
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Testifying at the nomination hearing of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court – September 7, 2018
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Melissa Erica Murray
August 30, 1975 |
| Education | University of Virginia (BA) Yale University (JD) |
| Spouse(s) |
Joshua Hill
(m. 2004) |
Melissa Erica Murray, born on August 30, 1975, is a well-known professor and expert in law. She teaches at NYU Law and helps lead the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Center there. Before joining NYU in 2018, she was the temporary dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Melissa Murray was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 30, 1975. She grew up in Florida. Her parents were immigrants from Jamaica. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was a dentist.
High School Years
Murray went to Lincoln Park Academy High School in Fort Pierce, Florida. She was very active in school. She played the violin in two youth orchestras. She even appeared as a contestant on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament. Murray was also a top debater in the country. She finished as the national runner-up in student congress during her senior year. She graduated from high school in 1993.
College and Law School
In 1997, Murray earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia. She studied history and American studies. She was a special Jefferson Scholar and an Echols Scholar. She also lived in a special part of the campus called The Lawn. Murray was involved in many activities, including volunteering and debating.
After college, she went to Yale Law School. She earned her Juris Doctor degree in 2002. While there, she worked on the Yale Law Journal. She also received special recognition as an NAACP-LDF/Shearman & Sterling Scholar.
Career Highlights
After law school, Melissa Murray worked for two important judges. She clerked for Sonia Sotomayor, who was then a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She also worked for Judge Stefan R. Underhill. Murray was the only African-American clerk at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals at that time.
Teaching at UC Berkeley
Murray joined the faculty at UC Berkeley School of Law in 2006. She became a permanent professor, known as getting tenure, in 2011. As an assistant professor, she won an award in 2012. This was for her article called "Marriage as Punishment." In this paper, she explained how marriage has sometimes been used in the criminal justice system.
The next year, another one of her articles won an award. It was called "What's So New About the New Illegitimacy?" This article was recognized as one of the best law review articles of 2012.
Leadership Roles
As a full professor at UC Berkeley, Murray received the Rutter Award in 2014. This award honors professors who are excellent teachers and inspire their students. The next year, she became the faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ). This was the first law school center in the U.S. to focus on reproductive rights. She also helped write the first textbook on these topics.
On March 22, 2016, Murray was named the temporary dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. She held this role after the previous dean resigned. On June 11, 2018, she left UC Berkeley. She accepted a new position as a professor at New York University. She also became a co-director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network there.
Public Testimony and Podcasts
On September 7, 2018, Melissa Murray spoke at a hearing for Brett Kavanaugh. He was being considered for a position on the Supreme Court. She told the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary that she believed he might overturn a major court decision about reproductive rights.
Murray has also been a member of important legal groups. These include the American Law Institute and the boards of directors for organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice.
Since 2019, Murray has co-hosted a podcast called Strict Scrutiny. She hosts it with fellow legal experts Kate Shaw and Leah Litman. In 2022, the podcast joined the Crooked Media network.
Personal Life
Melissa Murray married Joshua Hill Jr. on October 23, 2004.
Selected Publications
- Reproductive Rights and Justice Stories (Foundation Press, 2019) (with K. Shaw & R. Siegel).
- Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice (Foundation Press, 2014)
- The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary (W. W. Norton, 2024, ISBN: 978-1-324-07920-0) (with A. Weissman)
See also
- Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates
