def METHOD_NAME(files=None, strict=False, loads=util.json_loads):
    """Load JSON configuration files"""
    for pathfmt in files or _default_configs:
        path = util.expand_path(pathfmt)
        try:
            with open(path, encoding="utf-8") as file:
                conf = loads(file.read())
        except OSError as exc:
            if strict:
                log.error(exc)
                raise SystemExit(1)
        except Exception as exc:
            log.error("%s when loading '%s': %s",
                      exc.__class__.__name__, path, exc)
            if strict:
                raise SystemExit(2)
        else:
            if not _config:
                _config.update(conf)
            else:
                util.combine_dict(_config, conf)
            _files.append(pathfmt)
            if "subconfigs" in conf:
                subconfigs = conf["subconfigs"]
                if subconfigs:
                    if isinstance(subconfigs, str):
                        subconfigs = (subconfigs,)
                    METHOD_NAME(subconfigs, strict, loads)