JOHNSON, FRANK MINIS, JR.
As a federal judge in Alabama during the tumultuous CIVIL RIGHTS era, Frank Minis Johnson Jr. earned an outstanding reputation. Serving on
the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of
Alabama (1955–79) and the U.S. Courts of
Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits
(1979–91), Johnson was a strong, if sometimes
cautious, defender of constitutional liberties for
all U.S. citizens, regardless of race or social status.
Johnson was one of only a few judges to
apply vigorously the U.S. Supreme Court’s
SCHOOL DESEGREGATION decision in BROWN V.
BOARD OF EDUCATION, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S. Ct.
686, 98 L. Ed. 873 (1954). He made history in
1956 when he and another judge overturned a
Montgomery, Alabama, ordinance requiring
SEGREGATION on city buses (Browder v. Gayle,
142 F. Supp. 707 [M.D.Ala.]). That decision gave
the nascent CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT an
encouraging victory and helped catapult MAR-
TIN LUTHER KING JR. , who had led a boycott of
Montgomery buses, to the forefront as a civil
rights leader. During the 1970s, Johnson issued
court orders requiring sweeping changes in
Alabama’s mental health institutions and pris-
ons. Although his judicial decisions brought
death threats to himself and his family from
whites who opposed INTEGRATION, Johnson
remained faithful to his convictions regarding
individual rights.
Johnson was born October 30, 1918, in Del-
mar, a town in northern Alabama’s Winston
County. The county, in which Johnson spent his
youth, was a Republican stronghold in an over-
whelmingly Democratic state; in fact, it had
attempted to remain neutral during the Civil
War. Johnson’s father, Frank Minis Johnson Sr.
served as one of the few Republicans in the
Alabama state legislature. Johnson studied law at
the University of Alabama and graduated in the
top of his class in 1943 with a bachelor of laws
degree. He gained admission to the Alabama bar
the following year.
Johnson distinguished himself during
WORLD WAR II while serving as an officer in the
U.S.Army.Wounded in the Normandy Invasion,
he received numerous decorations, including
the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster and the
Bronze Star. He left the military in 1946 and
returned to Alabama. Settling in Jasper, he
cofounded a law firm and quickly earned a rep-
utation as an outstanding defense lawyer.
In 1952, Johnson worked as a state manager
for the presidential campaign of Republican
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER. After Eisenhower
became president the following year, he
rewarded Johnson with the post of U.S. attorney
for Alabama’s Northern District. In 1955, Eisen-
hower named Johnson to the U.S. District Court
for Alabama’s Middle District. At age 37, Johnson was the country’s youngest federal judge.He
became the court’s chief judge in 1966.
In 1956, shortly after taking his seat on the
bench, Johnson became involved in a formative
event of the civil rights movement. A year earlier
an African–American woman named ROSA
PARKS had been arrested for violating a Mont-
gomery ordinance requiring racial segregation
on the city’s buses. In response the African–
American community organized a boycott of
the Montgomery bus system and nominated
King as its leader. In addition, the National Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) challenged the city ordinance in court
and eventually appealed the case to the federal
district court (Browder). Citing the U.S.
Supreme Court’s reasoning in Brown, Johnson
and Judge Richard T. Rives,members of a three-
judge panel, ruled that the Montgomery ordi-
nance violated the DUE PROCESS and EQUAL
