Last Wednesday, Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) had an  affair with Shannon Edwards, a married woman half his age. Murphy was forced to reveal the affair when the Pittsburgh Post Gazette succeeded in a court motion to unseal divorce documents. They also discovered that it is possible that Rep. Murphy abused the resources of his office over the course of his affair. This is significant to the disability community because Rep. Murphy may have been abusing the resources of his office during the time he was pushing for the Murphy bill to pass. Rep. Murphy has long been one of Congress's most vocal champions of forced psychiatric medication.  In 2016, Rep. Murphy championed the "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act," better known as the Murphy bill, which would, in its original form, have increased funding for forced medication and institutionalization of people with psychiatric disabilities. His bill would … Continue Reading ››