Frank Johnson Interview (page: 5 / 9) Presidential Medal of Freedom	Print Interview

When did you first have an inkling of what you wanted to do with your life?

Frank Johnson: When I was 12 or 13 years old, sitting in the county courtroom up there in Winston County. Watching these lawyers. Watching the judge. Sure, I wanted to be a lawyer ever since then.

Why? What excited you?

Frank Johnson: Oh, it was exciting. They were advocates. They advocated and presented positions. Whether they agreed with them or not, they represented their clients. They were hired to do that. They were professionals. Very interesting. Fascinating to me.

Was it the sense of drama that takes place in a courtroom?

Frank Johnson: Oh yes.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. All trials have some dramatic aspects to them, some more than others. We've tried some big ones in this courtroom. Big ones. I've had Klan members sitting all over, in the balcony and everywhere else. They come to intimidate you.

You laugh, but they did some pretty vicious and violent things.

Frank Johnson: Well, I was laughing because they were wasting their time when they tried to intimidate me. They realized that and it didn't continue for several years.

Were you already interested in being a federal judge when you were in law school, or was it something that just happened?

Frank Johnson: No. I was interested in being a good lawyer. I didn't lie in bed and dream at night about being a judge. That just came. You can't plan that. It's something that happens. You have no control over it. One of the ironic things is that the judge that was here for 23 years before he died in 1955 was from north Alabama also, and a Republican. His name was Kennamer. His picture is out there in the hall. So we'd had Republican, north Alabama district judges here in Montgomery for 50 years when I went on the Court of Appeals.

Did the people down here in Montgomery see you as kind of a foreigner?

Frank Johnson: Oh yes. Sure. The newspapers sponsored a lawyer down here in Montgomery for the position and he didn't get it. So they were saying, "They went up to north Alabama and got that foreigner!" That was the Montgomery Advertiser. They didn't support me very much for ten, 12 or 14 years because of that.

Just because you were from elsewhere?

Frank Johnson: No, I don't think they liked my philosophy. Changing some of the South's customs and standards. For instance, one of my first cases...

Get the Flash Player to see this video. When a black pays their way to ride the public bus, they shouldn't go up and pay and then go back in the back door and sit in the back of the bus. They pay the same amount that the white people pay. They are American citizens. Let them go sit where a seat's available, where they want to sit. That's just basic as far as a public transportation case is concerned. But that's what they were doing. That's the first injunction that I entered after I got down here that came up and was presented. A judge doesn't reach out and get issues. It has to come up through the court system and be presented in a formal manner.

How did your parents react to your choice of career?

Frank Johnson: I think they were proud when I decided that I'd be a lawyer, go to law school. They supported me 100 percent. I didn't come down to Montgomery to practice law. I practiced in north Alabama.

What did they think when you started making those controversial decisions?

Frank Johnson: After I became a judge? Supported me 100 percent. As long as you think you are doing what's right, follow the law, and the facts require it, you have to do it. If you are not willing to do it, get another job. They didn't articulate that, but that was their philosophy.

It must have been very helpful for you to have that kind of family support because you were in some tough spots.

Frank Johnson: Well, my wife came from up there too. She was born and raised up there in the country in Winston County, and she felt that way. So I have no problems as far as my immediate family is concerned. I may have had some cousins that wouldn't admit that they were related to me, but I guess that happens to all judges.

Was there any time in your early life that you thought about being something other than a lawyer, or was it always clear?

Frank Johnson: Oh, when you start growing up, all children want to be policemen, but you are talking about third, fourth, fifth grade, or something like that. After I got out of high school, I had in my own mind decided that I wanted to practice law, be a lawyer.

What about the law inspired you to devote your life work to it?

Frank Johnson: Well, I could see how much pleasure the people that practiced law seemed to get out of it. It's a pretty dramatic occupation. You make your presentations in the courtroom, evaluate your position, decide which issues you are going to pursue and which ones you are going to abandon, if any. Then make your presentation to the judge if it's a judge's trial case or the jury if it's a jury case. I think practically all lawyers -- not all of them, but most of them that have the training and do trial work in the courtroom -- enjoy it. I get that impression. Otherwise they would do something else. Because it's hard work. It's not easy. A lot of pressure.

Is it fun?

Frank Johnson: I don't know if "fun" is the right word. It gives you an impression that you are doing what's right. Gives you some personal satisfaction when you do it successfully, even though it's not your case, it's someone that hired you to present their case.

Is it the sense of really having accomplished something?

Frank Johnson: That's true. Absolutely. Whether it's a big case or a little case.

As a lawyer, how did you deal with loss, when you didn't win? Or did that ever happen?

Frank Johnson: No. It did happen!

Get the Flash Player to see this video. A lawyer who has practiced law for a long time that tells you he's never lost a case is lying to you. You don't win all your cases, because you don't make the facts. You can't tell how jurors are going to decide cases. Sometimes you can't tell how a judge will decide a case. So if you practice law any length of time, you will win some and lose some. You get a lot of satisfaction out of winning, but you look to your next case when you lose one. You shouldn't feel bad about losing it if you do the best you can with what you have. If you goof up, and don't do the best you can, then it's time you backed up and evaluated yourself and what you are doing. But if you practice law, you don't win all cases. The best surgeons in the country lose patients.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

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