Defending Constitutional RightsFederal Judge Frank M. Johnson of Alabama decided many of the most important civil rights and liberties cases in twentieth-century American history. During the 1950s and 1960s, his decisions supported Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights fighters in their struggles for justice and equality. Johnson extended the Constitutional defense of individual rights for women, students, prisoners, mental health patients, poor criminal defendants, and voters during his active judicial career in Alabama and the South, which lasted until 1991. This collection assembles some of Johnson's most thought-provoking and insightful essays, many of which explain and defend a number of his decisions. Also included in this volume is the first published transcript of a 1980 public television interview with Bill Moyers. Meticulously detailed and documented, yet accessible to a wide range of readers, this book explores the constitutional ideals that Johnson forged and defended as he persistently overcame public officials' resistance to constitutional rights and social change. |
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5th Cir aff'd African Americans Alabama Amendment attorney authority basic Bass Bill Moyers Board of Education Brown Bull Connor citizens civil disobedience civil rights constitutional rights court order criminal decided decisions decree defendants Democratic desegregation discrimination district court district judge doctrine due process duty enforcement fairness federal courts federal judges federal judiciary Fifth Circuit Frank Johnson freedom fundamental George Wallace Governor institutions issues Judge Frank Judge Johnson judicial jury lawyers legal services legislative legislature litigation M.D. Ala Macon County Martin Luther King mental health moral Negro Notasulga officials percent plaintiffs Plessy political principles prison problems protection public schools quoted racial racial segregation remedial Republican responsibility Rives role school desegregation school systems segregation Selma social South state's statute Stickney Supp supremacy Supreme Court Taming the Storm three-judge tion tional treatment trial University of Alabama violation voters Voting Rights Winston County Wyatt