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William Johnson
associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Quick Facts
- Born:
- December 27, 1771, Charleston, South Carolina [U.S.]
William Johnson (born December 27, 1771, Charleston, South Carolina [U.S.]—died August 4, 1834, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1804 who established the practice of rendering individual opinions—concurring or dissenting—in addition to the majority opinion of the court. A deeply sensitive man and a learned, courageous jurist, he set himself against the dominance exercised over the court by Chief Justice John Marshall. After serving in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1794–99; speaker, 1798–99), Johnson was elected by the legislature to the Court of Common Pleas, at that time the highest ...(100 of 382 words)