Norma Holloway Johnson

Norma Holloway Johnson (July 28, 1932 – September 18, 2011), born Normalie Loyce Holloway, was a former United States district judge who served as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and was the first African-American woman in U.S. history to serve as chief judge of a United States district court. Notably, Johnson presided over the grand jury investigation into President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. Education and career Johnson was born on July 28, 1932, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Henry and Beatrice Williams Holloway. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree from District of Columbia Teachers College (now the University of the District of Columbia) in 1955 and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown Law in 1962. She entered private practice in Washington, D.C., and then became a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice Civil Division from 1963 to 1967. She worked as an assistant corporation counsel (a position later retitled Assistant Attorney General) for the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1970. In 1970, Johnson was appointed by President Richard Nixon to be a judge of the District of Columbia Superior Court. Federal judicial service