Melissa Murray (academic)

{{for|persons of a similar name|Melissa Murray (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Melissa Murray

| image = Melissa Murray (academic).jpg

| caption = Testifying at the nomination hearing of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court – September 7, 2018

| birth_name = Melissa Erica Murray

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|08|30}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = {{marriage|Joshua Hill|October 23, 2004}}

| education = University of Virginia (BA)
Yale University (JD)

| website = {{Official website}}

}}

Melissa Erica Murray (born August 30, 1975) is an academic and legal scholar who is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and the faculty director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Center at NYU Law, where she has been a member of the faculty since July 1, 2018. Murray was previously the interim dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Early life and education

Murray was born on August 30, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Florida.{{cite tweet |number=1564596684805443584 |user=StrictScrutiny_ |title=a happiest of birthdays to @StrictScrutiny_'s own MM, @ProfMMurray! |date=30 August 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.afj.org/document/melissa-murray-fact-sheet/ | title=Melissa Murray Fact Sheet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524221105/https://www.afj.org/document/melissa-murray-fact-sheet/ |publisher=Alliance for Justice |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |url-status=dead}} Both of her parents were Jamaican immigrants. Her mother worked as a nurse and her late father was a dentist.{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray, Joshua Hill Jr. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/fashion/weddings/melissa-murray-joshua-hill-jr.html |access-date=December 23, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=October 24, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622205919/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/fashion/weddings/melissa-murray-joshua-hill-jr.html |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |url-status=live}} Murray attended Lincoln Park Academy High School in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she played violin in two youth orchestras, was a contestant on Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, and was a nationally ranked debater, earning national runner-up for student congress her senior year. She graduated in 1993.{{cite news |last=Faran |first=Fagen |date=April 25, 2013 |title=Teacher aims to influence students beyond debate |url=https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2013/04/25/teacher-aims-to-influence-students/7552607007/ |work=Palm Beach Post |access-date=February 8, 2024}} Murray earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in history and American studies Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia in 1997, where she was a Jefferson Scholar and an Echols Scholar, a Lawn Resident, a Madison House volunteer, a university guide service historian, member of the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union, co-chair of the College Bowl, fundraising chair of the Colonnade Ball Committee, and volunteer at the Learning Needs and Evaluation Center.{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray CV |url=https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.full_cv&personid=40825 |website=its.law.nyu.edu |access-date=January 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726131952/https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.full_cv&personid=40825 |archive-date=July 26, 2023 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray, JS '97, named Interim Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law |url=https://www.jeffersonscholars.org/news/melissa-murray-js-97-named-interim-dean-uc-berkeley-school-law |website=jeffersonscholars.org |access-date=February 8, 2024 |date=March 23, 2016}} Murray then earned her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2002, where she was the notes development editor of the Yale Law Journal. She earned special recognition as an NAACP-LDF/Shearman & Sterling Scholar and was a semifinalist of Morris Tyler Moot Court.{{cite web |title=NYU Faculty Melissa Murray |url=https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.biography&personid=40825 |date=June 1, 2017}}

Career

Following law school, Murray clerked for Sonia Sotomayor (then sitting on the Second Circuit) and Stefan R. Underhill of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. She was the only African-American clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Andrew |title=Eleven African-American Students and Alumni Nab Prestigious Federal Clerkships |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/eleven-african-americans-berkeley-law-nab-prestigious-federal-clerkships/ |website=law.berkeley.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=August 11, 2017}}

Murray joined the faculty at UC Berkeley School of Law in 2006 and was granted tenure in 2011. As an assistant professor, she was the co-winner of the Association of American Law Schools 2012 Scholarly Papers Competition with Ashira Ostrow for her article "Marriage as Punishment." In her paper, Murray describes how "marriage has played a critical role in the operation of the criminal justice system, including serving as a defense to crime and as a form of punishment".{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Andrew |title=Melissa Murray Wins National Scholarly Papers Competition |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/melissa-murray-wins-national-scholarly-papers-competition/ |website=law.berkeley.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=December 3, 2010}} The following year, her article "What's So New About the New Illegitimacy?" was awarded the Dukeminier Awards' Michael Cunningham Prize as one of the best sexual orientation and gender identity law review articles of 2012.{{cite web |title=ELECTED MEMBER: Professor Melissa Murray |url=https://www.ali.org/members/member/375291/ |website=ali.org |publisher=American Law Institute |access-date=December 23, 2020}}

As a full professor at UC Berkeley, Murray was the recipient of the 2014 Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction which "honors a professor who has shown an outstanding commitment to teaching and who is an inspiration to students."{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Andrew |title=Melissa Murray to Receive Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/melissa-murray-to-receive-rutter-award-for-teaching-distinction/ |website=law.berkeley.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=February 24, 2014}} The following year, she was appointed faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ), the United States' first law school think tank to focus on reproductive rights and justice issues.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Andrew |title=Melissa Murray to Help Steer Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/melissa-murray-to-help-steer-center-on-reproductive-rights-and-justice/ |website=law.berkeley.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=August 14, 2015}} She also became the co-author of "Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice," the first reproductive rights and justice casebook.{{cite web |title='Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice' Marks the First Casebook on Reproductive Rights and Justice Law |url=https://www.acslaw.org/book/cases-on-reproductive-rights-and-justice-marks-the-first-casebook-on-reproductive-rights-and-justice-law/ |website=acslaw.org |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=January 28, 2015}} On March 22, 2016, Murray was named interim dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law following the resignation of former dean Sujit Choudhry.{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray Named Interim Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/melissa-murray-named-interim-dean/ |website=law.berkeley.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=March 23, 2016}} On June 11, 2018, Murray left UC Berkeley to accept a position as a tenured faculty member at New York University and become the co-faculty director of the Birnbaum Women's Leadership Network.{{cite web |date=June 11, 2018 |title=Melissa Murray to Join NYU Law Faculty |url=https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/melissa-murray-joins-nyu-law-as-new-faculty-member-family-law-birnbaum-womens-leadership-network |website=law.nyu.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620115825/https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/melissa-murray-joins-nyu-law-as-new-faculty-member-family-law-birnbaum-womens-leadership-network |archive-date=June 20, 2018 |url-status=live}}

On September 7, 2018, Murray testified at Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing where she cautioned the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary that he would overturn Roe v. Wade.{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray testifies at Judge Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing |url=https://www.law.nyu.edu/news/Melissa-Murray-Kavanaugh-Supreme-Court |website=law.nyu.edu |access-date=December 23, 2020 |date=September 10, 2018}}

Murray has been a member of the American Law Institute and sat on the boards of directors for the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Constitution Society, the Guttmacher Institute, and the National Women's Law Center.{{cite web | url=https://www.acslaw.org/about-us/leadership/ | title=Leadership | ACS | date=18 January 2018 }}{{cite web |title=American Law Institute |url=https://www.ali.org/members/member/375291/ |date=May 22, 2023}}{{cite web |title=Melissa Murray Fact Sheet |url=https://www.afj.org/document/melissa-murray-fact-sheet/ |date=January 31, 2022}}

Murray was considered to be a contender for a federal judgeship under the Biden administration.{{cite web |title=65 Names To Watch When Biden Picks Circuit Judges - Law360 |url=https://www.law360.com/articles/1338187/65-names-to-watch-when-biden-picks-circuit-judges |access-date=January 12, 2021 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}

Since 2019, Murray has co-hosted the podcast Strict Scrutiny with fellow legal academics Kate Shaw and Leah Litman. In 2022, the podcast joined the Crooked Media network.{{cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=January 27, 2022 |title=Crooked Media Makes First Podcast Acquisitions: 'Strict Scrutiny' and 'Hot Take' (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/crooked-media-acquisitions-strict-scrutiny-hot-take-1235165127/ |access-date=February 1, 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

Personal life

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)