In Memory of Justice Florence K. Murray

IN MEMORY OF JUSTICE FLORENCE K. MURRAY

Mr. REED. Mr. President, on Sunday, March 28, 2004, Rhode Island, the judicial community and the entire Nation lost a great pioneer who was a superb jurist and a powerful inspiration. Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Florence Kerins Murray passed away after decades of breaking new ground for women in the United States. She was 87 years old.

Justice Murray, the first woman appointed to the Rhode Island Superior and Supreme Courts, was a lifelong resident of Newport.

The daughter of John and Florence Kerins, Murray attended Rogers High School in Newport and went on to attend Syracuse University, where she would later serve on the Board of Trustees and was the only woman in the 1942 graduating class at Boston University Law School where she would become a member of the board of visitors.

Throughout her life Justice Murray sought ways to serve the community. She began her professional career as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse on Prudence Island, in Narragansett Bay. Later, she joined the Women's Army Corps and was promoted to lieutenant colonel before leaving the service in 1947. Again, Murray broke ground when she was the youngest woman to achieve that rank at the time.

Upon leaving the Army, she opened a one-woman law firm above a grocery store on Thames Street. She was the only female lawyer in Newport when she opened her firm. She later practiced law with her now-deceased husband, Paul F. Murray, who went on to serve as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island from 1977 to 1981. Paul and Florence had a son Paul M. Murray.

Continuing her traditions of giving back to her community and public service, Murray served as both a State Senator from Newport and member of the city's School Committee.

Murray was the only woman in the Rhode Island Senate during her years in the State House from 1948-1956.

While there, she sponsored legislation to abolish wage differences based on gender and for equal pay for teachers throughout the State. She also introduced a bill making it easier for a parent to get child support if a former spouse leaves the State, and another that led to the creation of State facilities for the care and treatment of alcoholics.

In 1956, Murray was sworn in as the State's first female superior court judge. She became the first female chief judge of the superior court in 1978, and when she was elected by the General Assembly to the State Supreme Court in November 1979, she became the first woman on that bench. She authored more than 500 opinions during her time on the Supreme Court before retiring in 1996.

Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg, who was appointed to Murray's seat on the high court upon her retirement, praised her "for having broken down so many barriers that were previously closed to women. I believe her greatest accomplishment is that, before she boldly marched into uncharted territory, she paused, turned around and beckoned the rest of us to follow."

During her four decades on the bench, Murray displayed an incredible work ethic and modest demeanor. In a 1997 interview with the Providence Journal she spoke about how she approached her job, "I haven't got any special attributes. I just do a job as well as I can do it, and I seek to keep myself well-informed about whatever my field of work is."

When she was not at work, Murray found dozens of other ways to contribute. She was a member of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, a recipient of a Citizen of the Year Award from the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association, and a Judge of the Year Award from the National Association of Women Judges.

The American Bar Association honored her in 2002 for pioneering work, in the late 1950s, that led to the establishment of Rhode Island's Family Court.

She served on numerous judicial and civic boards over the years, among them, Salve Regina College and Bryant College and she founded the Newport Girls Club.

In her retirement, Murray was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the board of directors of the State Justice Institute and remained active in National Judicial College affairs.

Murray was honored in 1990 when the Newport Court House was renamed the Florence K. Murray Judicial Complex. It was an excellent and fitting way to honor a great woman.

And when we honor Justice Murray, we must remember to honor the greatness of her achievements. Not because she was a woman, but because her accomplishments were spectacular for any person, man or woman.

My deepest condolences go out to her friends and family, especially her son, Paul. Justice Murray was an incredible woman who was bound by no barriers. She was a patriot and a pioneer, a public servant and a mother. In her quest to improve herself, she improved the world around her. We will miss her dearly.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.