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WHEREAS, Justin Morris Johnson was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania on August 19, 1933 and became an African American judicial trailblazer, as he was the second African American to serve on the Pennsylvania Superior Court; and
WHEREAS, Judge Johnson completed his education at the University of Chicago and attended the Graduate Program for Judges at the University of Virginia; and
WHEREAS, Judge Johnson served in the United States Air Force as an active duty aircraft commander from 1954 to 1959 and as a reservist from 1963 to 1973, having flown two active duty flights in Vietnam during 1971; and
WHEREAS, Judge Johnson was appointed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 1980, elected to a ten-year term in 1985, and was retained for a second full term in 1995; and
WHEREAS, Judge Johnson's life of public service has involved numerous memberships which have included the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners (Chairman of the Board of Law Examiners for 6 years); the Board of Managers of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (1984 to 1989); the Pennsylvania Crime Commission (1977 to 1980); the American Bar Association; the National Bar Association; the Pennsylvania Bar Association; the Homer S. Brown Law Association; the American Bar Foundation (fellow); Neighborhood Legal Services (past President and Director); the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1981 to 1989), and the Court of Judicial Discipline; and
WHEREAS, Judge Johnson also worked an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University's School of Law for five years, while additionally serving as the Chairman of Hearing Committee 4.11 (the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania).
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby wish to recognize and honor Judge Justin Morris Johnson for his successful career in public service and his numerous personal and professional achievements.