Justice Phil Johnson is a true conservative, who believes judges must be impartial referees and strictly interpret the law, not seek to write it from the bench.– Governor Rick Perry
As a former Justice on the Texas Supreme Court, the state of our judiciary is important to me. That is why we need Justice Phil Johnson re-elected to the high court. Phil Johnson believes, as I do, that our courts need judges who are qualified, experienced and committed to the rule of law, not judges who legislate from the bench.– John Cornyn
United States Senator
News
Amarillo Court of Appeals Chief Justice Phil Johnson Appointed to Supreme Court
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday his appointment of Chief Justice Phil Johnson of the Amarillo Court of Appeals to a vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court.
Johnson fills a vacancy left by Justice Michael Schneider’s appointment to the U.S. District Court in Tyler.
“I looked across Texas for an individual who could add to the High Court’s depth of experience, who is committed to interpreting the law in accordance with the will of the Legislature and our founding fathers, and who has demonstrated the high level of integrity demanded by the people of Texas,” Perry said. “One extraordinary West Texan fit the bill and that is the Chief Justice of the Seventh District Court of Appeals, Phil Johnson.”
Johnson will be the first West Texan on the Court since Justice James Denton, also of Lubbock. Denton died in office in 1982.
Johnson has led the Amarillo appeals court since January 2003. Before that he was a justice on the court. He took his seat on the Seventh Court in January 1998. The Amarillo Court of Appeals hears cases from 46 counties in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains.
He is a 1965 graduate of Texas Tech University and a 1975 graduate of the Tech School of Law and practiced law in Lubbock from 1975 through 1998. He was president of the Lubbock County Bar Association in 1984-85.