James Douglas Johnson (August 20, 1924 – February 13, 2010), known as "Justice Jim" Johnson, was an Arkansas legislator and jurist known for outspoken support of racial segregation during the mid-20th century. He served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1959 to 1966, and in the Arkansas Senate from 1951 to 1957. Johnson unsuccessfully sought several elected positions, including Governor of Arkansas in 1956 and 1966, and the United States Senate in 1968. A segregationist, Johnson was frequently compared to George Wallace of Alabama. He joined the Republican Party in 1983. Early life and career Johnson was a native of Crossett in southern Arkansas near the Louisiana state line. He was the son of T. W. and Myrtle Johnson, who owned and operated a grocery store in the sawmill town. During World War II, Johnson was drafted into the United States Marine Corps, serving in the Pacific Theater. After the war, Johnson attended Cumberland University, married Conway-native Virginia Lillian Morris, and returned to Crossett to start a law practice. She would serve as his legal secretary for the rest of her life. Johnson was said to have admired the political style of Huey Long, but was to Long's political right. His interest in politics grew following the 1948 Democratic National Convention and formation of the Dixiecrat party. When former Governor of Arkansas Benjamin T. Laney recommended Johnson run for office, he sought the District 27 seat in the Arkansas Senate, which covered Ashley and Chicot counties. He was seated in the 58th Arkansas General Assembly. Following the United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, Johnson sought to use segregation as a wedge issue for many campaigns thereafter. He brought the Citizens' Councils to Arkansas to stoke the white backlash created in the wake of Brown v. Board, and seized on the pending integration of Hoxie School District as a hot-button issue ahead of the 1956 gubernatorial election. Johnson also drafted and flogged an interposition amendment to the Arkansas Constitution and used red-baiting to raise the temperature around integration in Hoxie and raise his public profile. In 1956, Johnson declined to run for another term in the legislature, instead seeking to challenge incumbent Governor Orval Faubus in the Democratic primary during the Solid South period, in which winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to election. Johnson accused the segregationist Faubus of working