1. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Judge Harold L. Murphy was born in Felton, Georgia, in 1927. (2) He attended West Georgia College before serving in the United States Navy during the closing years of World War II. (3) He resumed his studies at the University of Mississippi and the University of Georgia School of Law, where he graduated in 1949. (4) He began a law practice in Haralson County, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives as the youngest Member at the time. (5) Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms before stepping down in 1961 to focus on practicing law. (6) In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, and following his election in 1976, President Carter nominated Judge Murphy to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. (7) Judge Murphy was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 28, 1977. (8) For 45 years, he served his country on the Federal bench and became an acclaimed jurist and legal icon with a stellar reputation that extended far beyond Georgia. (9) He always displayed a quick wit and a keen sense of humor, was kind and empathetic, and treated all those who appeared before him with courtesy and respect. (10) Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and carried a full docket until the age of 90, when he took senior judge status in the Northern District of Georgia. (11) He continued to preside over cases until his death on December 28, 2022. (12) Judge Murphy received many professional awards and recognitions, including from the State Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law. (13) In 2014, Alabama State University renamed its graduate school after Judge Murphy in recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. Alabama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals asked him to handle involving the vestiges of racial segregation then present in the Alabama University System. (14) Above all else, Judge Murphy was a