- James M. Johnson
James M. Johnson is an
Associate Justice of theWashington Supreme Court . He was first elected to the court in 2004. Johnson graduated fromHarvard University with a B.A. ineconomics and obtained his J.D. from theUniversity of Washington .Johnson spent two years in the
United States Army as chief of Administrative Services for the Ninth Infantry Division, including serving as that Division's Top Secret control officer and Dive Team commander before joining the Washington StateAttorney General 's Office.Johnson spent the next 20 years serving as a
Washington State Assistant Attorney General , heading first theFish and Wildlife Division and later theSpecial Litigation Division with responsibility for legal services to 25 state agencies and for major litigation involving the state. He was involved in many elections-related and constitutional cases, many of which went to the Washington orUnited States Supreme Court . During that time he was national affairs liaison to theNational Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG), as well as a contributing editor for thatAssociation's American Indian Law Deskbook .Upon leaving the Attorney General's Office in 1993, Johnson entered into a successful
private practice inOlympia, Washington , where he practiced until his election to the Supreme Court. His private practice specialized in major litigation involvingconstitutional law , notably many of the importantinitiative case s. Throughout his legal career, Johnson has argued nearly 100 appellate cases in three different federal appellate courts, theWashington Supreme Court andWashington Court of Appeals , and theUnited States Supreme Court .Personal life
Johnson is a life-long Washingtonian, born in
Seattle , and he attended Ingraham High School. Johnson and his wife Kathleen live in Olympia. They have two daughters: Heather Swanson is in the teaching profession and Stephanie is part of the team producing news for a national network. One skill from the Army he still enjoys isscuba diving , and he and his family have traveled much of the world.
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