Bernette Joshua Johnson

Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 17, 1943) is an American lawyer from New Orleans, who served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 2013 to 2020.

She is the first African American to serve in this position, and succeeded Catherine D. Kimball.

Early life and education Johnson was born in 1943 in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. She attended local public schools, which were still segregated. She went to college at Spelman College in Georgia, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1964. She attended the state Paul M. Hebert Law School at Louisiana State University, and was one of the first African-American women to graduate from its law program, earning a Juris Doctor in 1969.

She interned at the United States Department of Justice during the summer while still in law school, helping with cases to implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In Chisom v. Edwards (1988), a suit started in 1987 and brought under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended in 1982), the federal court found that the state's "system for electing justices diluted black voting strength" in the way that the districts were defined, in violation of the VRA. In 1987 the First Supreme Court District included Orleans and three other parishes. Two justices were elected at-large from this district, which had a white majority population around New Orleans. But Orleans Parish population comprised the majority of the district and was majority African American. The plaintiffs contended that this system diluted their vote, preventing them from electing candidates of their choice. They sought a remedy to have the district divided into two: one for Orleans Parish and one for the other three parishes. She was re-elected to this seat in 2010. Johnson's tenure on the Supreme Court preceded that of Victory by less than three months. When her colleagues on the court said that they were going to debate the eligibility of the two candidates, Johnson filed a federal suit on the issue in July 2012.

United States District Judge Susie Morgan ruled in September 2012 that Johnson had the greater seniority under the state constitution. In October 2012, the state Supreme Court members (Johnson, Victory and another candidate recused themselves) declared that Johnson would succeed Kimball because the start of Johnson's tenure predated that of Victory. They concluded that her seniority was more important than the fact that she had not gained her seat on the Supreme Court by election.

Johnson is the first African American to serve as chief justice in Louisiana. She is the first African-American woman to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court as both associate justice and chief justice.