He was constantly running for political office, seeking political appointments and playing politics." The biography was criticized for including several inaccuracies. His latest book, Scalia: A Court of One, published by Simon & Schuster in June 2014, is about the late United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of "the most polarizing figures to serve on the nation's highest court." This book argues that Scalia's Originalism theory and judicial conservatism was informed as much by his highly traditional Catholicism, mixed with his political partisanship, as by his reading of the Constitution. "Murphy delivers to us a man driven by three fundamental and nearly operatic qualities: a deep delight in argument, a florid and highly traditional Roman Catholicism and an insatiable need for attention to be paid." Murphy analyzes Scalia's Court opinions and public statements, in the form of speeches, public appearances, interviews, and off-the-Court writings, and scrutinizes the ethical controversies that dogged Scalia in his later years. The book argues that Scalia's influence could go beyond his judicial opinions and dissents to include his ideological progeny in the Federalist Society which he helped to found while a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. This was borne out when originalist Neil Gorsuch succeeded him on the Supreme Court. In addition to his judicial biographies, Professor Murphy is the co-author (with Professor Larry Berman) of an American Government textbook, Approaching Democracy, which had eight editions with Pearson Education, and a ninth edition with Routledge Publishing also with Professors Larry Berman, Nadia E. Brown, and Sarah Allen Gershon. He is also the editor of a reader, Portraits of American Politics with Houghton Mifflin Company. Teaching career Throughout his academic career, Murphy has taught political science, history, and Constitutional law courses including: American Constitutional Law, Liberty in the United States, The First Amendment, Introduction to U.S. Politics, The American Presidency, and seminars on Judicial Biography and Trials of the Century. Honors and awards Murphy has received numerous awards for his research and teaching, including inter alia: Recipient, Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, Marquis Who's Who (2017) Recipient, Mary Louise Van Artsdalen Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement, Lafayette College (2015) Recipient, Marquis Award for Distinguished Teaching, Lafayette College (2011) Recipient, Aaron O. Hoff Award for Organization Adviser of the Year (2000) Fellow, Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies, The Pennsylvania State University (1989) Honoree, Named Among “125 Alumni to Watch,”