Lee A. Johnson (born June 28, 1947) is a former Kansas Supreme Court Justice appointed by Governor Kathleen Sebelius. He started on January 8, 2007, to replace retiring Justice Donald L. Allegrucci.

Personal life

Lee A. Johnson was born June 28, 1947, in

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, East ...

, Kansas. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Kansas in 1969. Johnson attended

Washburn University School of Law The Washburn University School of Law is a public law school located on the main campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn Law was founded in 1903. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and has been a member o ...

and graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in 1980 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. He was a member of Phi Delta Phi. He is married to Donna and has two children, Jordan and Jennifer.

Professional life

Upon graduating from KU, Johnson served two years on active duty with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and then became an insurance salesman for his family business. After graduating from Washburn, Johnson went into private practice as an attorney for 21 years. He served as Mayor of Caldwell in 1975-1976 and Caldwell City Attorney from 1987 to 1997. He served as president of the Sumner County bar association in 1992. He also spent 16 years serving on the Sumner Mental Health board. In 2001 Johnson was appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals. While there he authored 500 decisions. Governor Kathleen Sebelius appointed Johnson to the Kansas Supreme Court in 2007 to replace Justice Donald L. Allegrucci who retired due to state mandated age limits. Johnson retired from the court on September 8, 2019. Johnson voted against the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in every case which came before the court, citing it as cruel and unusual.

References

1947 births Living people Businesspeople from Kansas Kansas Court of Appeals judges Kansas lawyers Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Mayors of places in Kansas People from Caldwell, Kansas University of Kansas alumni Washburn University alumni 21st-century American judges {{Kansas-state-judge-stub