Senator Leroy R. Johnson was honored by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice's Commission on
Professionalism with the 18th Annual Justice Robert Benham Lifetime Achievement
Award for Community Service. Since 1998 these awards have recognized judges and
lawyers from the ten judicial districts across Georgia who have made
outstanding contributions in the area of community service. The recognition
was presented on February 28, 2017.
A legal giant and pioneer, Senator Johnson holds an historic position in
Georgia as a civil rights lawyer and the first African-American Senator in
Georgia elected since the period of Reconstruction. Presently, he continues to practice as the
owner of Leroy R. Johnson & Associates, P.C., practicing primarily in the
areas of probate and estate, criminal, domestic relations and personal injury.
He has owned and managed a successful law practice for forty-seven years.
An Atlanta native, Leroy
Reginald Johnson was born on July 28, 1928 to Elizabeth Heard and Leroy
Johnson. He graduated from Booker T.
Washington High School in 1945 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse
College in 1949 and a master’s degree from Atlanta University (later Clark
Atlanta University) in 1951. He taught
social science in the Atlanta school system from 1950 to 1954 before earning a
law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1957. He was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia
in 1959.
After receiving his law
degree, Johnson became the first African-American hired by the Fulton County
Solicitor General’s Office (now the District Attorney’s Office) and worked as a
criminal investigator there from 1957 to 1962.
He then started his own practice.
Senator Johnson is
well-known for representing many notable civil rights leaders and litigating
some of the most noted cases in Georgia history. In October 1960, in one of Atlanta’s first
civil rights demonstrations, black college students conducted mass sit-ins at
Rich’s Department Store lunch counters.
Johnson was one of several community leaders, along with business
executive Jesse Hill and National Urban League Director Whitney Young, advising
the student leaders, including Julian Bond.
Senator Johnson became
engaged in public service in the 1960s.
Georgia’s county unit system of allocating seats in the General Assembly
was overturned in an historic “one man, one vote” court decision in1962. The ruling resulted in the creation of a
predominantly black senate district in Fulton County, and Johnson won the seat
in 1962 making him the first African-American to serve in the Georgia
Legislature since 1907. He was also the
first African-American elected to public office in the Southeast that
year. During his first session in 1963,
Johnson’s senate colleagues included another freshman legislator from Sumter
County, Jimmy Carter, and a second-term senator from Towns County named Zell
Miller, both who later would become governors of Georgia, with Carter later
becoming the United States President and Miller becoming a Georgia United
States Senator.
Johnson’s pioneering
role in the Georgia Senate was difficult from the outset when employees in the
segregated state cafeteria balked at serving food to him during his first
year. He
persevered and became an influential lawmaker, rising to the position of
chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee.
He led the way to desegregate many areas of the State Capitol, including
its cafeterias and public meeting rooms, and made it possible for young
African-Americans to serve as pages and interns during the legislative session.
In June of 1996, the
Georgia Senate, by Resolution, authorized that the portrait of Senator Leroy R.
Johnson be hung in the State Capital in recognition of his service to the State
of Georgia. Senator Johnson became the first black elected official to have his
portrait hung in the Senate Chamber and the first living person other than the
Governor or Lieutenant Governor to have his portrait hung in the State Capitol.
With a handful of black
lawyers practicing in Georgia, Senator Johnson throughout his many years of the practice of law ably
represented famous entertainers including James Brown, Johnny Taylor, Otis
Redding, and athletes including Hank Aaron (baseball homerun king), Tom Payne,
(Atlanta Hawks basketball player) and Joel Williams (Atlanta Falcons football
player). In 1970, Johnson obtained the
boxing license for Muhammad Ali and sponsored and promoted the fight that
returned Muhammad Ali to prominence in the boxing world. After 67 other cities denied the boxing
legend a license to fight, Atlanta became the venue for the Ali-Jerry Quarry
bout.
During the time when
black lawyers and law students were not employed by white firms, Attorney
Johnson opened the doors of his practice to several diverse lawyers who
ultimately assumed leadership positions and became Federal, Atlanta and Fulton
County judges. Some of these lawyers
include: Marvin Arrington, Sr. (City Council President and Fulton County
Superior Court Judge), Clarence Cooper (Judge, U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Georgia), Lynwood Jackson (City of Atlanta Traffic Court,
Andrew A. Mickles (City of Atlanta Municipal Court Chief Judge). Judge J. L.
Jordan and Judge Harris Bostic also served as associates in the early years of
his legal practice.
As his nominator
related, “Sen. Johnson has also been a mainstay in the advancement of public
policy decisions that resonate today.
For example, in 1971, along with then Vice-Mayor Maynard Jackson, he led
the effort to ensure fair employment practices and reasonable fares for what
was then the new MARTA transportation system.”
Senator Johnson has been and remains very involved in the
community. He serves as co-counsel for
the Fulton County Development Authority and Chairman of the Butler Street YMCA
Board of Directors. In addition to the
many organizations of which he has been an officer and member, he is the
Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Ebenezer Baptist Church where he has been
an active member for 40 years. He is a
member of the Kappa Boule of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
For his many years of
public service and involvement in the community, Senator Johnson has received
many awards, appointments and honors. He
was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as Special Ambassador to represent
the United States at the Independence Ceremonies in Zanzibar, Africa, December
9, 1963. He was one of the United States
citizens to receive the 1962 Russwurm Award from the National Publishers
Association. He received the NAACP’s
1963 Freedom Award and its 1970 Image Award. He received the Herman S. Prescott
Award from the National Boys and Girls Clubs of America in 1971. In February of 2007, his alma mater,
Morehouse College bestowed on him its highest award, the Benjamin E. Mayes
“Bennie” Award at its Candle in the Dark Ceremony. In 2009, he was inducted into the Gate City
Bar Hall of Fame.
Senator Johnson married
Cleopatra Whittington Johnson, Ph.D., in 1948 and they have one son, Michael
Vince Johnson, Ph.D., and three granddaughters, Melani, Melissa and Michelle.
Senator Johnson is one
of ten members of the State Bar of
Georgia who were recognized at 6:00
p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 at the State Bar of Georgia, 104 Marietta
Street, N.W. in Atlanta. The ceremony was
free and open to the public but registration was required. For more information
on attending the event and to register, contact Ms. Nneka Harris Daniel at
404.225.5040 or nneka@cjcga.org.
