Scope and Content Note
The papers of Frank Minis Johnson, Jr. (1911-1999) span the years 1865-1999, with the bulk of the material dating from 1955 to 1995. The collection consists of an original portion organized after the first gift of the papers in 1990; two subsequent additions were arranged and described in 1993 and 2014.
Initial Portion
The initial portion of the Frank Johnson Papers spans the years 1955-1982, with the bulk of the items ranging from 1962 to 1979. The majority of the papers document Johnson's career as a judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, 1955-1979, and the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals of the United States, 1972-1982. This portion of the papers consists of two series: the United States District Court File and the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals File .
The United States District Court File (1955-1980) documents Johnson's twenty-four years of service as a district court judge. Papers in this series are divided into four subseries: General Correspondence , Case File , Orders and Opinions , and Office File . The General Correspondence subseries (1956-1980) includes incoming and outgoing letters between Johnson and judges, lawyers, court staff, federal and state officials, and the general public. The letters pertain primarily to district court matters.
The Case File subseries (1955-1979) includes correspondence, memoranda, opinions, orders, briefs, writs, motions, petitions, depositions, transcripts, notes, background information, clippings, and printed matter. Cases are arranged chronologically by date of first court action. The majority of the case files pertain to Johnson's precedent-setting decisions in the areas of civil rights for Black people, prison inmates, and mental patients. During the late 1950s and mid-1960s, many of the significant racial conflicts in the South, including the Montgomery bus boycott (Browder v. Gayle) and the Selma-Montgomery march (Williams v. Wallace), were settled in his court. Although known primarily for his decisions on civil rights, Johnson's decisions to improve the living conditions in Alabama's prisons (Pugh v. Locke and James v. Wallace) and mental hospitals (Wyatt v. Stickney) were some of his most controversial. Johnson maintained that federal courts must provide relief when constitutional rights are violated because state institutions fail to furnish proper living conditions and medical care for those confined in prisons and mental hospitals. Also included in this series are cases documenting Johnson's occasional sittings for other courts. These cases are filed at the end of the Case File subseries. Notes on cases also appear in the Office File .
Papers in the Orders and Opinions subseries (1955-1979) consist of principal orders and opinions issued by Johnson during his tenure as a district judge. This series includes orders and opinions of several cases that do not appear in the Case File subseries.
The Office File subseries (1955-1979) relates to Johnson's administrative duties, his work as a member of the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules for the Judicial Conference of the United States, and his involvement in other professional activities. The majority of the series, however, consists of files relating to briefs and notes on cases. The brief files contain memoranda and briefs, usually from Johnson's law clerks, opinions, articles, and printed matter that Johnson maintained for reference about various subjects such as bankruptcy, civil rights, and social security. An index to the briefs precedes the brief files. The notes on cases are handwritten notes taken by Johnson during trials. The Library received no case files for the cases appearing in these case notes. Notes for cases in the Case File subseries are filed in that series with the relevant case.
Papers in the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals File (1971-1982) include correspondence, memoranda, case files, and background information documenting Johnson's service on that court from 1972 to 1982. This court was originally created during President Richard M. Nixon's administration to deal with litigation involving wage-price controls. The papers reflect the court's shift in focus to complex energy regulations brought about by the Emergency Petroleum Act of 1973.
Prominent correspondents in the initial portion of the papers include John Robert Brown, Warren E. Burger, Emanuel Celler, Ira DeMent, John Doar, John C. Godbold, Fob James, William C. Keady, Robert F. Kennedy, Seybourn H. Lynne, Burke Marshall, Richard T. Rives, Hugh Scott, Edward A. Tamm, Elbert P. Tuttle, Robert E. Varner, and Earl Warren.
1993 Addition
The 1993 Addition to the papers of Frank Johnson spans the years 1945-1989, with the majority concentrated in the period 1955-1986. The bulk of these papers documents Johnson's career as a judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and as an appellate judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the fifth and eleventh circuits. The 1993 Addition consists of four series: United States District Court File , United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit File , United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit File , and Miscellany .
The United States District Court File (1945-1983) is divided into five subseries: General Correspondence , Case File , Dockets , Orders and Opinions , and Office File . The General Correspondence subseries (1956-1979) is further divided into alphabetical and chronological files. The bulk of the General Correspondence contains letters, primarily from the public, pertaining to Johnson's civil rights decisions. Many of these letters are negative in tone, revealing the anger and hatred that many white people felt about racial desegregation, especially in Alabama.
The Case File subseries (1963-1977) contains a few district court cases that were not received in the original installment of the Johnson Papers. Also included is additional material relating to the 1963 school desegregation case, Lee v. Macon County Board of Education. Cases are arranged chronologically by date of first court decision.
Papers in the Docket subseries (1955-1979) provide a record of the name and docket number of individual cases and often include Johnson's handwritten notes in the margin. The Orders and Opinions subseries (1958-1979) complements similar papers received in the initial gift of the collection and consists of orders and opinions issued by Johnson.
The final subseries, Office File (1945-1983), relates to Johnson's administrative duties and professional activities during his tenure as a district judge. The papers reflect Johnson's work with judicial conferences and councils and his service on various committees.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit File (1975-1981) consists of three subseries: General Correspondence , Case File , and Office File . Johnson sat on the fifth circuit court, which heard cases originating in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, from 1979 until the fifth circuit split in 1981. The Case File subseries (1979-1981) includes correspondence and memoranda, chiefly between the judges, court clerks, and lawyers, as well as opinions (primarily in draft form), orders, petitions, notes, voting sheets, and printed matter. Cases are arranged chronologically by court term beginning in July of each year and therein by case number. Cases are filed by date of last court action. The files reflect the range of cases heard by the fifth circuit court, such as civil rights, constitutional law, antitrust issues, and prisoners' rights.
The Office File subseries (1975-1981) relates to Johnson's administrative and professional duties during his two years on the fifth circuit court. The majority of the papers chronicle his activities with judicial conferences and councils.
Johnson transferred to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) in 1981 upon its creation from the old fifth circuit. Papers in the eleventh circuit court of appeals series (1974-1989) document Johnson's lengthy service on that court. The series consists of four subseries: General Correspondence , Case File , Three-Judge District Court Cases , and Office File . The General Correspondence (1979-1981) contains a few letters, incoming and outgoing, from friends and the public.
The Case File subseries (1981-1988) comprises the bulk of the eleventh circuit series. It includes correspondence and memoranda, chiefly between judges, court clerks, and lawyers, as well as an extensive amount of legal material, such as opinions, orders, and petitions. Cases are arranged chronologically by court term beginning in July of each year and therein by case number. Cases are filed by date of last court action. Because the split of the old fifth circuit occurred during the 1981 term, readers should look in the case files of both appellate courts to find cases decided during that court term. The eleventh circuit court caseload includes a wide range of cases, from ones involving mundane tax and bankruptcy issues to others focusing on constitutional questions such as search and seizure rules for drug cases.
Additional case files in the eleventh circuit series are located in the Three-Judge District Court Cases subseries (1979-1986), documenting Johnson's occasional sittings on special three-judge district court cases. These cases usually involved constitutional challenges to state statutes. Arranged by Johnson's staff, this series also contains three-judge court cases which Johnson heard as a fifth circuit judge.
The Office File subseries (1974-1989) of the eleventh circuit court pertains to Johnson's committee work for judicial conferences and councils, although there is some overlap with the fifth circuit office files. Also reflected in the file is Johnson's work on the Investigating Committee of the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit, which led to the impeachment of Miami district court judge Alcee L. Hastings in 1989.
The final series, Miscellany (1962-1981), consists chiefly of papers relating to Johnson's nomination as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Nominated by President Jimmy Carter, Johnson was forced to withdraw from consideration because of health problems. Also included in this series are speeches and writings by Johnson.
Prominent correspondents in the 1993 Addition include Griffin B. Bell, Harry Blackmun, Paul W. Bryant, Warren E. Burger, Morris Dees, Ira DeMent, John Doar, William Burnett Harvey, Vernon E. Jordan, William C. Keady, Clarence M. Kelley, Burke Marshall, Walter F. Mondale, and Huey P. Newton.
2014 Addition
The 2014 Addition of the Frank M. Johnson Papers spans the years 1865-1999, with the bulk of the items ranging from 1980 to 1995. Papers in this addition supplement the initial portion of the collection and the 1993 Addition. The majority of the items pertain to Johnson's work as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Papers in the 2014 Addition are in English and are organized into the following series: Personal File , United States District Court File , United States Court of Appeals File , Staff File , Speeches and Writings File , John B. Sandage File , and Closed.
The Personal File (1865-1997) documents mainly Johnson's activities and interests while an appellate judge for the eleventh circuit but also includes material pertaining to his years while a federal district court judge and as an appellate judge for the fifth circuit. The Personal File includes personal and professional correspondence from friends, colleagues, government officials, and acquaintances and pertains to court matters, judicial committee appointments, and various issues affecting the judicial branch. The files also treat Johnson's appointment to the United States Court of Appeals, his possible appointment to the United States Supreme Court, interviews with Bill Moyers Journal and The Third Branch, his awards and honors, and files relating to his colleague Judge Robert S. Vance, who was murdered while serving as a judge on the eleventh circuit. A "notes" file contains a narrative outline for a proposed autobiography by Johnson. The miscellaneous folders in the personal papers files comprise a range of items relating to Alabama politics, civil rights, and the early history of the United States District Court of the Middle District of Alabama.
The United States District Court File (1956-1980) contains orders, opinions and case lists, bench and desk books, and other legal material that were not received with the other installments. The civil and criminal desk books are comprised of typed sheets, including handwritten emendations, concerning points of law about various topics and often list specific cases as examples.
The United States Court of Appeals File (1971-1999), comprising almost ninety percent of the 2014 Addition, documents Johnson's service with the eleventh circuit, 1981-1999, but also contains some overlapping files from his tenure with the fifth circuit, 1979-1981. The series consists of six subseries: Correspondence , Case File , Dockets , Opinions , Three-Judge District Court Cases , and Office File . The Correspondence subseries (1984-1992) complements previous correspondence received with the 1993 installment of the collection.
The Case File (1979-1995) is organized into five groups: argued cases, death penalty cases, en banc file, miscellaneous cases, and screening file. There were two calendars for cases in the eleventh circuit-the argument calendar, which provided the dates for oral argument, and the non-argument calendar, which was determined by a screening process. Case files were usually filed by category according to whether they were an argued case or a non-argued case handled by a screening panel. A screening panel consisted of three judges. The first judge who reviewed a case was considered the initiating judge. If that judge thought the case should be heard by oral argument, the case was returned to the clerk for oral argument. If the judge decided oral argument was unwarranted, he or she prepared a draft opinion and forwarded it to a second panel member. The second judge reviewed the case and either signed the opinion or sent it back to the clerk of the court to schedule for oral argument. The third panel member had the same discretion as the second judge. If all three judges agreed that oral argument was unnecessary, the opinion of the initiating judge, along with any proposed revisions by the other panel members, was submitted to the clerk for filing.
The argued cases in the Case File subseries are arranged chronologically by date of docket term, and therein by week of court sitting and then by case number. Docket terms for oral argument usually began in August or September of a year and ended in June of the next year. The majority of the argued cases pertains to cases heard by Johnson as a member of a three-judge panel. Also included are some en banc cases that were heard by the entire Eleventh Circuit Court. An administrative file usually precedes the case file providing administrative details about the cases such as courtroom location, attorneys, and other scheduling information.
The screening file in the Case File subseries is organized into four categories: administrative, cases screened by Johnson as the initiating judge, cases screened by other judges who acted as the initiating judge, and class III cases. The administrative file documents the Court's actions for cases reviewed by three-judge panels, including Johnson and other judges. The screening file contains case files documenting Johnson's role as the initiating judge and his role as a panel member of cases that were first screened by other judges. Class III cases were those that were screened and returned to the clerk of the court to be scheduled for oral argument.
The Case File subseries also includes three other groups of files: death penalty cases, an en banc file, and miscellaneous cases. The death penalty cases are comprised of "closed files" that were not active for any further appeals; some cases also appear in the argued cases group if the case was heard for oral argument. The en banc file contains an administrative file consisting of memoranda for closed en banc matters and pending cases on hold waiting for a decision about whether to hear a case by the full court. En banc cases that were heard for oral argument are also filed with the argued cases. The miscellaneous cases are cases in which Johnson did not serve as a panel member but were of special interest to him.
Two subseries that complement the Case File are the Dockets (1979 1995) and the Opinions series (1979-1991). Dockets were kept only for the argued cases and include calendar lists, bench memoranda, conference notes, and vote sheets. Dockets are arranged chronologically by date of court term, and therein by week of court sitting and according to the order in which the case was heard by the Court. The Opinions series consists of slip opinions written by Johnson. The Dockets and Opinions also include files from Johnson's fifth circuit cases.
Three-Judge District Court Cases (1985-1993) supplement files in the 1993 Addition and pertain to cases Johnson heard while serving as a panel member for special three-judge district court cases. The Office File subseries of the United States Court of Appeal series pertains to Johnson's administrative and professional duties while an appellate judge. The bulk of the files relate to his tenure on the eleventh circuit and include many files documenting court and judicial council meetings for that circuit and files concerning administrative issues relating to death penalty cases.
The Staff File (1946-1998) consists of files of various individuals that worked with Johnson during his service as a federal judge. The bulk of the series consists of files about Johnson's law clerks, but it also includes files for other staff with whom he worked such as magistrates, probation officers, deputy clerks, and secretaries.
The Speeches and Writings File (1941-1996) consists mainly of speeches given by Johnson and speech material he collected. Many of the speeches were given before law classes and legal conferences. Topics featured in the speech material are civil disobedience, civil rights, and judicial activism. The writings include articles by Johnson and writings by others about Johnson. Additional speeches, including some not filed in this series, are filed in briefing books, volumes 7-10, relating to Johnson's Senate confirmation hearing for the court of appeals in the Personal File series.
The final series is the John B. Sandage File (1985-1986). Sandage was a law clerk for Johnson from 1985-1986. This file contains memoranda and draft opinions written by Sandage in his capacity as a clerk.
Correspondents in the 2014 Addition include John Robert Brown, Paul W. Bryant, Warren E. Burger, J. P. Coleman, Morris Dees, Ira DeMent, John C. Godbold, Burke Marshall, Virgil Pittman, Frank T. Read, Richard T. Rives, and Edward A. Tamm.