Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 17, 1943)[1] is an American lawyer from New Orleans, who served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 2013 to 2020.

[4] She interned at the United States Department of Justice during the summer while still in law school, helping with cases to implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

After passing the bar, she became the managing attorney at the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation (NOLAC), serving from 1969 to 1973.

[4] Johnson ran unsuccessfully for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 1, 1994.

[6] In Chisom v. Edwards (1988), a suit started in 1987 and brought under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended in 1982), the federal court found that the state's "system for electing justices diluted black voting strength" in the way that the districts were defined, in violation of the VRA.

[7] In Clark v. Edwards, a suit was brought against the state by black lawyers, who argued that the system of judicial election discriminated against them.

When her colleagues on the court said that they were going to debate the eligibility of the two candidates, Johnson filed a federal suit on the issue in July 2012.

They concluded that her seniority was more important than the fact that she had not gained her seat on the Supreme Court by election.