Contact: Sammy McDavid
The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is receiving the 1999 Distinguished Jurist Award at Mississippi State University.
Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, who oversaw the grand jury process in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton, will receive the honor April 20 at an 11 a.m. public program in Simrall Hall auditorium.
Following presentation of the award by society president Renae Alford of Starkville, Johnson will deliver an address on an American legal system topic of her choosing.
Prior to the program, she will be the guest for a 9:30-10:30 public reception in the John Grisham Room of nearby Mitchell Memorial Library. Also open to the public will be a 2 p.m. question-and-answer session in which she will discuss general legal issues with Pre-Law Society members. The latter program takes place in the Bryant Women's Resource Center of Rice Hall.
First presented 22 years ago, the student group's annual award has honored a diverse list of national, state and local judicial stalwarts. Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was last year's honoree, while John J. Frasier Jr., retired chief judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, received the 1997 award. Others winners: Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox and current state Supreme Court Chief Justice Lenore Prather.
A native of Louisiana, Johnson became the chief federal judge for the District of Columbia in 1997. Before becoming a federal district judge in 1980, she was an associate judge for 10 years in the D.C. superior court.
A former U.S. Justice Department trial attorney, she is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of the District of Columbia. Among other professional duties, she has served as director of the Washington Bar Association, National Association of Women Judges and National Association of Black Women Attorneys.
For more information on the program, telephone Diane Wall at (601) 325-2711/7864.