Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., and the South's Fight over Civil Rights
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.74 (688 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0820325317 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 528 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-10-17 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Judge Johnson - Southern Hero Michael "Hero in war and peace, implacable enemy of sham and duplicity, living symbol of courage and fairness, jurist par excellence. Through tides of emotion surged menacingly about you, you have read the law as it was, not as other might have wished it to be" (Bass, Taming the Storm, pg. 403)These words inscribed on an honorary degree from Saint Michael's College hung on the wall of Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr.'s chambers and personified the legacy of one of the most significant judges within the last century of American history. In his 1993 book, "Taming the Storm," Dr. Jack Bass goes to great lengths to reveal this modest hero t
Not just a moral beacon, Johnson, who recently retired, was a legal innovator, developing new judicial doctrines regarding state prisons and mental health institutions. . From Publishers Weekly The unelected federal judge who, in Bill Moyers's words, "altered forever the face of the South," comes alive in this substantial biography. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. In a few chapters, such as one on the suicide of the judge's adopted son, Bass could have used less detail, but this book is a valuable piece of history. Johnson claims his judicial approach is strictly legal with "no interest in social change" and the book's account makes that claim plausible. Bass, author of a previous book on Southern judges ( Unlikely Heroes ), first depicts Johnson as a product of the fiercely independent hills of northwest Alabama and the son of a mother with strong convictions. Drawing on extensive interviews with Johnson and his associ
Johnson, Jr., was the youngest federal judge in the country at the time of his appointment in 1955. Johnson paid a heavy price for his judicial vision, however, for he had to endure public scorn, death threats, and the outrage of a society that felt itself and its values to be under siege. Taming the Storm is the story of an authentic American hero and the era he did so much to define.. Eventually Johnson prevailed, winning honor even in his native Alabama and a respected place in the history of the civil rights movement. During his twenty-four years on the district court in Montgomery, Alabama, Johnson handed down a string of precedent-setting decisions that were vastly unpopular at the time but that would prove to have profound consequences for America's future.Not only did Johnson's trailblazing opinions greatly expand the access of African Americans to their constitutional rights, but his opinions also helped to dismantle discrimination against women, prison inmates, and the mentally ill. Thrust into