Atlanta’s Senator Leroy Johnson Honored with Justice Robert Benham Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service

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.