Two African American Brothers, Both Distinguished Judges, Honored In Pittsburgh

The occasion was a ceremony recognizing brothers Livingstone and Justin Johnson's induction into Wilkinsburg High School's Wall of Fame. But then the conversation quickly switched to the changes seen in the Pittsburgh area over the years, especially for the Black community.

The other members of this first class of inductees at Wilkinsburg are his elder brother, Judge Livingstone Johnson, 82; Wilkinsburg Mayor John Thompson; Carnegie Mellon University music professor Thomas Douglas; Valerie McDonald Roberts, manager of Allegheny County's Department of Real Estate; and James Richard, Wilkinsburg's tax collector from 1954 to 1986.

Judge Justin Johnson, 76, served on Pennsylvania Superior Court from 1980 to 2007. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago and achieved the rank of major during his service in the U.S. Air Force, from 1956 to 1959 and 1963 to 1973. He graduated from Wilkinsburg High in 1951.

Back then, he was one of only three black students in the school; when Livingstone Johnson graduated in 1945, he was the only black student.

Livingstone Johnson, who served on the Court of Common Pleas from 1982 to 2007, said his parents, Oliver Livingstone and Irene Marsh Johnson, had to use a third-party buyer, or "straw man," to purchase their home on Ross Avenue in Wilkinsburg.

"The KKK had marches in front of the house when they found out," he said, adding that a group of his father's friends would stand armed guard on the ground floor so that his parents could get some sleep.

Livingstone Johnson graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1957 and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying 58 combat missions over Korea.

He noted that when his father became Allegheny County's first black district attorney in 1942, he also became its first black prosecuting attorney, a distinction that was important at that time.

"It was thought unseemly for a black man to be permitted to go into court and prosecute both black and white," Livingstone Johnson said, adding that some people were uncomfortable with a black man questioning white women on the stand, especially in cases involving sexual assault.

Livingstone Johnson pointed out that his father, who graduated from Braddock High School in 1916, attended Harvard Law School but was drafted to fight in World War I and finished his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He died in 1971.

Livingstone Johnson said he will always remember what one of his history teachers once told his class.

"He said that black people ought to be grateful for slavery, since they were fed and supported all that time," he said. "When I told my mother what he'd said, she said he was wrong, that I couldn't listen to things like that."

In the six decades since the brothers attended Wilkinsburg High, they agree that a lot has changed.

The story continues...

Ex-OJ Prosecutor Chris Darden Wants To Be A Judge While The Gavel Drops On TV's Judge Hatchett

Christopher Darden, the black prosecutor who unsuccessfully took on OJ Simpson in that OTHER criminal case, is seeking to join the bench. Hope he doesn't also have television aspirations, because there will be one less African American jurist on daytime as Sony adjourns Glenda Hatchette's court gig.

Christopher Darden, is under consideration for appointment as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Three Brothers has learned.

Several lawyers, including members of the O.J. Simpson (what's he up to lately?) defense team, reported receiving questionnaires from the State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. Simpson defense lawyer Carl Douglas said he was surprised to have received a questionnaire, because he didn’t know that Darden, whom he has known for over 20 years, had aspirations to sit on the bench.

Douglas said that Darden may have been “a little off balance” after Simpson was acquitted. Darden left the District Attorney’s office soon after that and taught at Southwestern Law School for a time before going into private practice. In the 12 years since the trial, however, Douglas said, Darden “has grown as a person and a lawyer, and has served many years as a criminal and civil defense attorney” whose “broad experience” would make him a good judge.

Another Simpson defense attorney, Robert Shapiro, said he had rated Darden “extremely well-qualified” on the questionnaire he returned to the JNE commission. He noted Darden’s “balanced” experience as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, and pointed to Darden’s experience as a law professor, saying that Darden has the requisite knowledge for the position.
“I would be happy to appear in front of him,” Shapiro said.

If appointed, Darden would be the third Simpson prosecutor to become a judge, following in the footsteps of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Hank Goldberg and San Diego Superior Court Judge George “Woody” Clarke.Gavel Drops on Original Production of Sony’s Judge Hatchett.

Meanwhile across the way over in Hollywood, Sony Pictures Television’s Judge Hatchett is going out of original production after this year. Rumor is they didn't want to pay her honor the $2 mil a year she was demanding. Sony, however, hopes to keep the show on the air.

The studio is pitching TV stations “theme weeks” -- around such topics as divorce or interventions -- comprised of repeats. Judge Hatchett, featuring Judge Glenda Hatchett, is in its eighth season, giving the studio plenty of episodes to choose from.