Bernette Johnson

From Judgepedia

Justice Bernette J. Johnson is a justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court. She was first elected to this position in 1994 and was re-elected in 2000.^[1] Her term ends in 2010. See Louisiana judicial elections, 2010 for information on the election.

Biography

Justice Johnson attended Spelman College, on an academic scholarship and received her B.A. degree in 1964. One of the first African-American women to attend the Law School at Louisiana State University, she received her JD degree in January, 1969. Justice Johnson received her Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Spelman College in April, 2001. ^[2]

Legal career

Justice Johnson was the first woman elected to Civil District Court. She was elected in 1984, was reelected without opposition in 1990, and elected Chief Judge in 1994. Justice Johnson has spent much of her legal career working for the poor and disadvantaged. She served as a law intern with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and as a legal services attorney with the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation (NOLAC). During the sixties, Justice Johnson worked as a community organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York City. During the seventies, she helped to organize household workers to receive social security benefits and a minimum wage. ^[2]

Community Involvement

Justice Johnson has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College, as Chair of the New Orleans Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference SCLC/Women. She serves on the board of the New Orleans YWCA, and she is Chair of the Board of Directors, Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church Learning Center. She also served on the Board of Directors of NOLAC from 1992 to 1999.

Memberships, Associations and Recognition

Justice Johnson organized the first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program for the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, and was Chair of the CLE Committee. Justice Johnson was chosen as one of the Outstanding Women on the Bench by the New Orleans Association of Black Women Attorneys; as a Role Model by the YWCA of Greater New Orleans; was the first recipient of the Ernest N. Morial award given by NOLAC; was named Woman of the Year in 1994 by the LaBelle West Chapter, American Business Women Association; and received the Daniel Byrd award and A.P. Tureaud Citizenship award from the Louisiana State conference, NAACP. She is a recipient of the American Bar Association prestigious Margaret A. Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.

A much sought after speaker, she is frequently called upon to address school and community groups. She was the Women's History Month Speaker at several U.S. Military bases in Germany in March, 2001. ^[2]

Political affiliation

Democrat. In the 2000 general election, Justice Johnson raised $127,895. $74,950, of that, or 58.60%, was contributed by Lawyers and Lobbyists. $47,678 (37.28%) was contributed Uncoded, and $3,000 (2.35%) was contributed by Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate.^[3]

In the News: Articles

Louisiana's Redistricting News (January 2001-October 25, 2001) Louisiana has seven high court districts, the same number as congressional, so the ideal district size is the same, 638,425. However, the court districts can have a 5 percent deviation either way, unlike the congressional ones. The court districts most seriously under-populated are District 7, a black-majority district in New Orleans, and District 4 in Northeast Louisiana. District 7 is 62,310 below the ideal, District 4 is 62,310 under. Bruneau said that though District 7 must grow, it will likely remain a minority district.^[4]

District 7 is served by Justice Bernette Johnson of New Orleans, District 4 by Justice Chet D. Traylor of Columbia.

Judicial Suspensions (June 29, 2007) Judge Martha Sassone of the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna has been suspended for 60 days without pay by the Louisiana Supreme Court for failing to follow the law, abusing her authority and other conduct detrimental to the bench. Rebuking her for actions that "rose to the level of judicial misconduct," a divided state Supreme Court on Friday suspended district Judge Martha Sassone for 60 days without pay, describing her behavior in four cases from "retaliatory" to impatient to an abuse of her authority.^[5]

The Judiciary Commission, which filed a five-count charge against her April 4, proved its case "by clear and convincing evidence," and yet Sassone showed no remorse for her actions, Associate Justice Bernette Johnson wrote in the 4-3 majority opinion. "We do not find that Judge Sassone has acknowledged her actions," Johnson wrote. "She has refused to admit to any wrongdoing, and has conjured up explanations for her conduct after the fact which do not comport with the record...As such, we can only assume that Judge Sassone has no intention of modifying her conduct in the future," Johnson wrote.

Associate Justice John L. Weimer acknowledged Sassone's part in the probe, but in his dissenting opinion, he recommends a 30-day suspension without pay and wrote that he agreed with the majority on three of the four counts. Associate Justice Jeffrey P. Victory concurred with Wiemer. Associate Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll also dissented, but she found no evidence of judicial misconduct and wrote that Sassone should not be punished.

Voter Approved Change Deemed "Unconstitutional" (March 9, 2002) The Louisiana Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected as unconstitutional a voter-approved change in the New Orleans City Charter that would have made the minimum wage in Orleans higher, $6.15, than the federal minimum wage paid in surrounding parishes.^[6]

The high court's 6-1 decision branded the local wage law as an illegal encroachment on power reserved to the state and upheld a 1997 Louisiana law that forbids local governments from setting minimum-wage rules. The lone dissent came from Associate Justice Bernette Johnson of New Orleans: "The city's effort to insure that a working family has the ability to live above the poverty line, without relying on government subsidies (food stamps, etc.), is a legitimate exercise of its authority under the Home Rule Charter," she said.

Justice Clarence Thomas Declines to Drop Speech to Bar (June 17, 1998) The afternoon of July 29 in Memphis could prove an exquisitely interesting if awkward moment; Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court has told the National Bar Association that he intends to deliver a luncheon speech at its annual convention even though he received a subsequent letter from some members withdrawing the invitation. Justice Thomas originally accepted an invitation to speak to the 17,000-member organization that was tendered early this year by Justice Bernette J. Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Justice Johnson is the current head of the association's judicial council, a division composed of about 840 blacks who are present and former judges on Federal, state and local courts.^[7]

Justice Johnson said she did not view extending the invitation as an honor to Justice Thomas. Rather, she said, "it gives us a chance to interact with a Supreme Court Justice and dialogue is always good."^[8] Justice Johnson said she was never under the impression that Thomas' appearance would change his conservative views. "But hope springs eternal, and dialogue and interaction are always good," she said. "This gives Justice Thomas an opportunity to interact with us. Progress is made in small increments," she stated.^[9]

Notable decisions

Notable rulings of Bernette Johnson

On Discrimination and Equal Protection 2007 Cook v. Cook (2007) Justice Johnson concurred in the majority opinion of the Court, which concluded that a mother who exposed her children to her lesbian relationship was not entitled to keep custody of those children. State v. Bailey (2007), aka "the Jena 6" Case Justice Johnson dissented from the majority opinion of the Court, which concluded a white district attorney should have recused himself from the prosecution of "The Jana 6," six African-American highschool students who attacked a white student, because his past behavior indicated a bias towards vigorous prosecution of blacks, and insufficient prosecution of whites. State v. Coleman (2007) Justice Johnson wrote the majority opinion, which found that a prosecutor consciously and impermissibly took race into account where he, in a death penalty case with a black defendant who was convicted of first degree murder, failed to select a black juror who had filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state for "institutional discrimination." On Government Accountability 2007 In re Justice of the Peace Alfonso (2007) Justice Johnson dissented from the majority opinion of Justice John L. Weimer, which imposed a 30 day suspension on Justice of the Peace Myrty Alfonso for her extreme abuse of power in having a neighbor against whom she harbored ill-will arrested and incarcerated for a night without probable cause. On Personal Responsibility 2006 State ex rel. A.T.(2006) Justice Johnson concurred in majority opinion of Justice Jeffrey P. Victory, which held, over the dissent of Justices Chet D. Traylor and Jeannette Theriot Knoll, that the State of Louisiana Department of Social Services was required to "make reasonable efforts to assist [a] parent in finding suitable housing before it may seek to terminate parental rights." On Taxes 2006 Voicestream GSM I Operating Co., LLC v. Louisiana Public Service Commission (2006) Justice Johnson wrote the majority opinion, which held that a Government Agency Order requiring cell phone providers to pay into a fund for setting up rural phone service was a permissible "fee" rather than an unconstitutionally impermissible "tax," even though the eventual effect of these fees would be to pass on the costs to cell phone users rather than the general public. On Tax Increment Financing (TIF) 2006 Board of Directors of the Industrial Development Board of the City of Gonzales, Louisiana v. All Taxpayers, Property Owners, Citizens of the City of Gonzales, Louisiana (2006) Justice Johnson concurred in the majority opinion, written by Justice Catherine D. Kimball, which, over the strong dissenting opinion of Justice Chet D. Traylor, held that a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan (1) did not constitute a gratuitous handout, loan, or donation of public funds to a private entity where it used public funds to construct a retail development and accompanying infrastructure for Cabela's Retail Center; (2) could be funded through the issuance of municipal bonds pursuant to Louisiana's TIF statute; and (3) did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution where it handed out public funds to Cabela's, a private retailer, but not to already-existing, smaller local retailers. Denham Springs Economic Development District v. All Taxpayers, Property Owners, and Citizens of the Denham Springs Economic Development District (2006) Justice Johnson concurred in the majority opinion, written by Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll, which held that (1) the government did not violate the due process rights, under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, of local citizens by notifying them of a $50 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for Bass Pro Shops only by mail, rather than by personal service, even though they were, as a group, easily identifiable; and (2) the citizens challenging the project did not have a sufficient property interest in challenging the project to trigger due process rights, although they may have if they had received notice of the project in time to challenge it. On Term Limits 2007 Deculus v. Welborn (2007) The majority opinion of Justice Catherine D. Kimball, which, over the dissent of Bernette J. Johnson held that, under Louisiana's Term Limits law, Article 3, Section 4(E) of the Louisiana Constitution, Democrat state senator Cleo Fields was precluded from running for re-election where he had been elected to finish the term of a resigned predecessor in office, and then elected to two subsequent terms, since he had served long enough to constitute the maximum "two and one-half terms," under Louisiana's term limits laws. In reaching this conclusion, the court explicitly refused to apply a statute, passed by the legislature, intended to circumvent Article 3, Section 4(E) of the Louisiana Constitution and keep Mr. Fields in office. On Tort Reform 2007 Lacoste v. Pendleton Methodist Hospital, LLC (2007) Over the strong dissenting opinion of Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll, the majority opinion, written by Justice Pascal Calogero, in which Justice Johnson concurred, held (1) that limitations on the legal liability of Louisiana health care providers, as set forth in the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act could be circumvented by an ordinary negligence cause of action; and (2) that such a cause of action was permissible where a New Orleans hospital lost power during Hurricane Katrina, resulting in the death of a patient on life support.

References

v • d • e Louisiana Supreme Court Current Chief: Kimball • Guidry • Johnson • Knoll •Victory • Weimer • Clark Former Wisdom • Ortique, Jr.