As you will see from the press release below, I have decided to return to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as Director of its Washington Legislative Office, effective February 8, 2010. I held this same position from 1993 to 2005. It is both a professional and personal compliment that, five years later, the ACLU and its Executive Director, Anthony Romero, asked me to return to this leadership role. In these challenging times in a difficult national economy, and during a time when the country is fearful of terrorism, there is both opportunity and peril for advancing rights. Nonetheless, I am ready to lead a staff of highly trained professionals to defend and advance our rights and liberties before our federal government in Washington, D.C.

It has been a dynamic and highly successful nearly two and a-half years serving as President of Laura Murphy & Associates (LMA). I want to thank all of you who have patronized my business, especially my eight major clients from the non-profit and for-profit sectors whom I got to know so well. On their behalf, LMA was able to facilitate their introductions to key officials in the most powerful government in the world.

Some of the major accomplishments LMA has achieved on behalf of its clients include:

• Helping to secure millions of dollars in federal funding for worthy charities
• Creating dialogue between people from different parties and nations who would not normally sit down together to resolve national problems
• Preventing the passage of poorly conceived crime bills and helping to advance more thoughtful criminal justice reform proposals
• Creating more opportunities for small-, women- and minority-owned businesses
• Helping to build a major national grass roots and "inside the Beltway" coalition to advance domestic and international human rights
• Helping clients strengthen partnerships with existing coalitions
• Building relationships with high-level officials in the Bush and Obama administrations
• Devising legislation and getting it enacted by both houses of the United States Congress and signed into law by the President

Also, during this period in my individual capacity, I testified before the U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security and before the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Although I am returning to the ACLU, LMA is not closing its doors! We will no longer offer government relations services; but from time to time, as long as it poses no conflict with my ACLU duties, LMA will provide expert speakers on the legislative process and management consulting services. For LMA inquiries/further information, please contact Patricia Jackson at pjackson@lwmurphy.com or call 202-370-6948.

Should you need to reach me in my official ACLU capacity, you can do so by contacting Kimberly Humphrey at khumphrey@dcaclu.org.

Thank you for visiting this Web site, and I hope our paths cross again soon.

Laura W. Murphy
Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
915 15th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 675-2305

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2010

CONTACT: Mandy Simon, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the appointment of longtime civil liberties and human rights advocate Laura Murphy as Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office (WLO). Murphy previously headed the WLO from 1993-2005.

"Laura’s career epitomizes effective, dynamic leadership and advocacy and she is the perfect person to head our legislative office as the organization approaches its 90th anniversary and enters a new era," said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "I know she will have an enormous impact on advancing the cause of civil liberties on Capitol Hill. I am delighted to welcome Laura back into the ACLU family."

Murphy has 30 years of policy-making and political experience at the national, state and local levels. She comes to the ACLU from her own firm, Laura Murphy & Associates, LLC, which has provided government relations and public policy services to corporate and nonprofit clients. Murphy is well known for her legislative advocacy on human rights and civil liberties, and has managed high-profile legislative and communications campaigns on criminal justice, First Amendment, equality and national security issues.

"I am very enthusiastic at the opportunity to head the ACLU's legislative office during these exciting and transitional times in Washington," said Murphy. "There is no other organization like the ACLU when it comes to protecting Americans' fundamental rights, and I look forward to once again being part of that important mission and leading the WLO in non-partisan advocacy."

Prior to the establishment of her firm and her first tenure as Director of the ACLU Legislative Office, Murphy worked with the ACLU in other capacities: as a lobbyist on women's rights and civil rights for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, as the Development Director of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and as a board member for two ACLU affiliates in California and in Illinois. Murphy also served as chief of staff to a California Assembly Speaker, cabinet member for the Mayor of the District of Columbia, account executive for a public affairs firm and legislative assistant for two members of Congress. She was also a consultant with The Livingston Group, headed by the Hon. Bob Livingston, a former member of Congress and a Senior Advisor to PCT Government Relations.

Murphy has testified more than a dozen times before Congress and is an experienced national spokesperson. She has been a frequent guest on national public affairs programs on PBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News and National Public Radio. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Murphy's advocacy on civil liberties issues (surrounding the USA Patriot Act, in particular) was the centerpiece of articles in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and Rolling Stone and Ebony magazines. She has authored chapters in two books: "The McGraw Hill-Homeland Security Handbook" and "The Paradox of Loyalty: An African American Response to the War on Terrorism."