Disbarred 75 year old ‘Barbara C. Johnson’ takes on the judicial system: Behind the Black Robes

Barbara C. Johnson was born in Boston in 1934. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts a suburb of Boston known at the time for its fine public schools. She received her B.A. from Bennington College in Vermont and entered the New England School of Law at the age of 49. In 1987, she received her J.D.
In an interview with Hank Richards from the Examiner, Ms. Johnson said she was ‘called to the stage during her NESL graduation ceremony and received the West Publishing Company Corpus Juris Secundum Series Award (1987) for the highest annual scholastic average.’

She began her two decades as a sole-practitioner in civil and criminal litigation in State and Federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels.

As a member of the Children's Rights Council panel, she addressed a joint state-congressional committee on a shared-parenting bill. As an activist-attorney, she received a Woman of the Year award from the Fatherhood Coalition.

Her activism had grown out of her early outside interests. As a film consultant, she advised the Massachusetts Bar Association's Bicentennial Committee. She conceived, produced and moderated 'Think Tank,' a cable-TV series (Continental Cablevision in Newton) on local government and business.

In 2002, she ran a quixotic campaign for governor, campaigning in an antique fire truck and promising to use creativity, compassion and a willingness to listen to the people to mend an ailing government.

On August 9, 2006, Justice Francis X. Spina signed an order of disbarment against Barbara C. Johnson and she was forbidden from practicing law effective September 8, 2006.

At her hearing Ms. Johnson, a fiery and unconventional 75 year old, was quoted as saying, ‘No - damn it, no. Unless you’re willing to agree that you have a kangaroo court here, you cannot say that to me . . . that's a wagon of detritus, cow chips, horse manure . . . the disbarment by this kangaroo court is an effort to silence my criticism of the courts.’


Barbara C. Johnson during her campaign bid for Governor

Johnson has long been a fierce advocate for fathers' rights in family courts. She is an outspoken critic of the Massachusetts court system, which she says is rife with corruption.

Her aggressive nature and quest for court reform brings her book, Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice, to the market.

According to some legal reviews, many agree with her position about the legal system.

‘The book addresses a serious problem - the need for court reform and the abolishment of judicial immunity. The book is filled with the courts’ tricks and traps for the unwary and tries to alert readers both why their law cases fail and what must be done to effect court reform. Each chapter presents a series of illustrations intended to teach the readers by example how to avoid those court tricks and traps that people are likely to encounter in their existing or potential court cases’ says one reviewer.

A newspaper once wrote, ‘While we don't fully agree with either her politics or her methods, Johnson is a character in a humdrum world sorely in need of more characters. She's the thorn in the side, the thumbtack on the chair . . . Johnson speaks her mind, and loudly.'

Another review states that ‘if we do nothing, the country will continue to drift slowly from bad to worse. Only continuing civil disobedience, demonstrations, including the recent much-laughed-at Tea Parties must first take place. Bets are on that the U.S. system will collapse after a severe energy shortage.

When the voting public finally becomes active and educated as to what kind of person they should elect to governmental office, only then can the evolutionary process begin’ – anonymous.

Her book, Behind the Black Robes: Failed Justice, is available at Amazon.com, Abebooks.com and Alibris.com .

Barbara is currently working on two more nonfiction books to help people who are representing themselves in family court. When finished with the nonfiction, she is planning to switch back to fiction or faction.

This 75 year old world traveler is a divorced woman with two sons and five grandchildren. She can be reached by e-mail at barbjohnson74@gmail.com .