The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor, the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, our premiere sponsor.

Fishman Haygood, LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson, Haydel with additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Roy Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.

If I had to use two words to describe Chief Justice Burnett, Joshua Johnson, I would describe her as a pioneer.

I would describe her as a trailblazer.

She's a brilliant woman.

I would describe my mom as a quiet force.

She loves her family.

When she talks, people listen.

I think about her graceful tenacity, her kindness to so many people, no matter their walks of life.

And I think most importantly, I think about the fact that she has always had as her North Star.

Fairness and equity for everyone.

Chief Justice Johnson's journey began with remarkable determination.

A valedictorian from her still segregated high school, Walter L Cohen.

She graduated at just 16 years old, received an academic scholarship to go to Spelman and I mean, I think it's unheard of for someone in the segregated South to leave your home where you've never really been outside of New Orleans and just up and say, I'm going to Atlanta for college.

But she did.

And to my grandparents credit, I mean, they they supported.

I'm sure they were scared.

Burnett graduated from Spelman in 1964, then worked for a year desegregating public schools, persuading black parents to send their children to previously segregated institutions.

This experience greatly influenced her decision to attend law school at LSU.

She always said she wanted to go to Boston for law school, and I think she took us back and she said, look, you know, I'm convincing parents to send their six year olds into, you know, these white schools where they're not wanted.

I can't be a hypocrite and go somewhere where it's going to be pretty comfortable for me.

She was one of two black students.

Both happen to be black women.

Actually, Camille Gray, judge Camille Gray, who's from Baton Rouge.

She moved eventually to Virginia.

I am a mom.

Justice Burnett.

Joshua Johnson, what a pleasure to speak with you today.

It's quite an honor to be with you here in New Orleans and the Louisiana state Supreme Court building.

Having this conversation with you today.

So Justice Johnson Law School, at that time, you were one of, few African-Americans, obviously attended LSU Law School.

Had it been a ten year span, as you said before, now you and your friend are going to law school at this point.

What was it like as African American women in law school in a predominantly male dominated field?

Well, there were few women in law school at that time.

Camille Gray and I, graduated, in a class of otherwise all white males.

We had, some folks who were supportive and some people who helped, and, that it doesn't matter what what situation you were in or how difficult the situation, but always folks there to help.

And I always give Professor Ben Schreiber, credit for assisting and advising us and encouraging us.

And, I can remember one conversation with him where he said, you don't have to be a lawyer.

Of course, you know, Doctor King was assassinated, in April of the spring of 1968, and I was a third year law student at LSU.

Tumultuous.

And, of course, that was hard to get through.

Burnett graduated from LSU in 1969.

In the early chapters of her career, she focused primarily in the public sector.

She honed her legal acumen as a law clerk for Ernest Dutch Morial and as a deputy city attorney for New Orleans.

Her role as a community organizer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund further solidified her dedication to justice and equality.

This is an organization that's committed to providing legal representation to those who cannot afford legal representation.

So she's a believer in the American system of justice, and she wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of money, regardless of race, regardless of gender, regardless of sexual orientation, everyone has the opportunity to have adequate representation in the law.

Justice Johnson's legacy includes a series of firsts.

The first woman to serve on the bench of the Civil District Court of New Orleans in 1984.

And eventually in 2013, becoming the first African-American Chief Justice and the second female Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Her tenure was marked by 26 years as the sole African-American jurist on the bench, until her retirement in 2020.

Justice Johnson was one who really made a difference in the state of Louisiana by being the first, and definitely not being the only son.

People want to get on top of the mountain.

And stay there and be remembered for that.

But she was never that type.

She would make sure that women, she would make sure that lawyers of color were in the room as important decisions were being made.

And I'll say from a personal standpoint, she is someone whose footsteps I have tried to follow through the vast majority of my legal career.

how would you describe your judicial philosophy and how has it evolved over your career?

I and I say I've always worked in the public sector.

I've never been, I've never worked for a huge law firm.

Business interests.

I was always, in public sector employment I think if you talk with lawyers who practice before me, I, I was always, concerned about fundamental fairness.

If lawyers appeared before me, I wanted them to understand that, everybody has the same, fair opportunity to prove their case that I, was rarely, faced with a motion to recuse, that that that's been my, foundation fundamental of fairness, equal protection under the law.

That's that's what I believed.

And that's what I, learned in law school that that, that that's what I think the American judicial system is all about, that everybody, regardless of, background or connections that you go into court, you present your case, and you have a fair opportunity for judgment.

So what is what's some of the work that you think Justice Johnson remains to be done here in Louisiana?

Louisiana is still, still number one in the nation in locking up people.

And the idea behind justice reinvestment was, let's let's see if we can reduce our prison population, particularly with folk who were incarcerated for low level, crimes and, and give those people a second opportunity so that they can go home and, and raise their families and, and, take the burden off the foster care system and, all of the other burdens and, associated with a huge prison system.

I haven't check recently, but at one time, we were spending something like $200 million a year to incarcerate people.

You, if you look at, what other southern states are doing, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, they they don't need to lock up as many people as we do.

But sometimes we can get a mind set about creating private prisons as an economic opportunity.

And then you've got to send people to those prisons to, populate them.

What advice on a personal level would you offer Justice Johnson to younger, the younger generation, the younger women, and particularly those women of color who are interested in aspiring to the legal field or even the judiciary?

I would I would, say that we've got to, maintain, the rule of law.

We've got to respect, judges and courts.

It's it's, abhorrent to to have, law firms under attack because, of the clients they represent, we have to have lawyers representing unpopular causes and unpopular people.

The criminal justice system cannot function if the defendant doesn't have an attorney.

And then to demonize the lawyer who represented that defendant.

You know, we just can't have that in America.

We we can't have folk disrespecting, harassing and demonizing judges.

And we've got to respect the rule of law, respect the rule of law along the way.

And you said earlier that fundamental equity is something that you will look and see is the fundamental equality, rather is something that you're looking across the entire spectrum of the legal field.

To say that is something we've got to do.

What we, you know, if we've lost our way, we've lost our way.

If, judges are not respected, if people can threaten judges, we've lost our way.

If someone can make a phone call and make a difference in a lawsuit.

We've lost our way, what gives you hope in the Louisiana judicial system?

What gives me hope is when I have a chance to interact with young people and, and talk with them.

To, see that they love the law and that they, they, they inspire to make a difference and to work hard and to, just make America great so that that that's an inspiration to me.

Well, Justice Johnson, it has been my pleasure and my honor to have this conversation with you today and to bring forth, illuminate more things about your life and the future and your position as it relates to the legal profession.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor, the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, our premiere sponsor.

Fishman Haygood, LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson, Haydel with additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Roy Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.