Golden E. Johnson

Golden Elizabeth Johnson (1944–2010) was an American Democratic Party politician and jurist who was the first African American woman to serve as a Newark Municipal Court Judge.

She was a 1961 graduate of East Side High School in 1961, and received a B.S. in Microbiology from Douglas College-Rutgers University in 1964. She worked as a researcher and graduated Rutgers University Law School in 1971.[1] She worked for the Hoffmann-La Roche pharmaceutical company before her appointment to the bench.[1] She was appointed to the bench by Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson in 1974.

Johnson resigned from the bench in 1980 to challenge House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter W. Rodino in the Democratic primary. Rodino won with 62% of the vote, followed by former Essex County Freeholder Donald M. Payne with 23%. Johnson finished third with 12%, followed by former Essex County Freeholder Russell E. Fox with 3%.[2]

Johnson worked on discrimination cases as Director of the Community Legal Action Workshop, a program of the American Civil Liberties Union.[1] She served as Municipal Court Judge in Montclair, New Jersey,[1] and as an Assistant Essex County Prosecutor from 1995 until her death in 2010.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Golden Elizabeth Johnson". www.judiciary.state.nj.us. State of New Jersey. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Our Campaigns". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Whitlow, Joan (29 April 2010). "Newark's first black woman to serve as municipal court judge dies at 66". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
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