Johnnie N. Lewis was born to Roderick N. Lewis and Mary Houston-Lewis^[1] in Greenville, Sinoe County, Liberia on April 16, 1946.^[2] His father was a lawyer and his mother was a school teacher; he had three brothers and two sisters.^[1] Lewis studied at St. Joseph's Catholic Elementary School followed by Sinoe High School.^[1]

After finishing high school, Lewis attended the University of Liberia in Monrovia where he earned first a Bachelor of Arts, then a Bachelor of Laws from the university's Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law.^[3] He was the editor of the Liberian Law Journal during his time in law school, and graduated cum laude in 1969.^[2][3] After he was called to the bar that year, Lewis traveled to the United States to study at Yale Law School. He completed his Master of Laws in 1971.^[3]

After graduating from Yale, Lewis returned to Liberia. He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Liberia; he also became an Associate Professor at his former law school.^[2] In 1975, he was appointed as Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Sinoe County by President William R. Tolbert, Jr., replacing his late father Roderick.^[1] In 1980, the government fell in a coup, so Lewis left the judiciary and resumed his faculty position. He became the school's dean in 1984, and continued in that position until 1991.^[2] In that year, he also served as a legal adviser to the interim Liberian president.^[1]

In private practice, Lewis was a partner in the Lewis & Lewis Law Offices of Monrovia.^[1] In one incident, his home was invaded by gunmen searching for him; though Lewis escaped, one of his nephews was killed for failing to divulge his uncle's whereabouts.^[1] Lewis then spent 1993 to 2003 outside of Liberia, working mainly with the United Nations.^[3] Employment with that agency led him to Bosnia and Somalia.^[3] He also wrote two law textbooks: one on criminal law in Liberia and the other on wills and estates.^[1]

In 2006, the Liberian Bar Association recommended Lewis for nomination by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia.^[3] President Johnson-Sirleaf nominated him in February and he was confirmed by the Liberian Senate on March 2, 2006.^[3] Lewis was commissioned as the new Chief Justice on March 3.^[4] Upon taking office, he vowed to fight corruption that had plagued the judicial branch in the country.^[5]

The Lewis court edit

Chief Justice Lewis fired 34 judges in Sinoe County in April 2006 after they failed to report to their assigned courts.^[6] In July 2006, the car Lewis was riding in to the funeral of former justice Emmanuel Wureh hit and killed a pedestrian who was jaywalking.^[7] The car was driven by a court employee and was speeding at the time of the accident in an attempt to catch up with the funeral procession.^[7] An angry mob surrounded the vehicle and Lewis and the other passengers had to be rescued by the Liberian National Police.^[7]

In a 3–2 decision with Lewis voting in the majority, the court declared the removal of House Speaker Edwin Snowe by the National Legislature was illegal and ordered his reinstatement.^[8][9] The ruling in January 2007 also invalidated other actions of the legislature including a resolution to allow the Legislature to meet at the Unity Conference Center in Virginia while the Capitol Building in Monrovia was being remodeled.^[8] This decision created a rift between some members of the legislature, President Johnson-Sirleaf, and the Supreme Court.^[8] In August 2007, the court allowed a criminal prosecution for corruption against former leader Gyude Bryant to proceed in the lower courts.^[10]

In October 2007, the Chief Justice accused newspapers in the country of deliberately misspelling his name and using pictures of him inappropriately.^[11] He threatened to jail the editors and writers if the practice continued for contempt of court.^[11] In January 2008, the court affirmed the national government's decision not to hold municipal elections due to budgetary constraints and allowed the President of Liberia to appoint mayors.^[12] The court determined that once money was available, the government must hold the elections, which had not been held since 1985.^[12] He resigned from the court in September 2012 citing health issues, with September 10 as his last day in office.^[13]

Lewis died in Monrovia on January 21, 2015, en route to the John F. Kennedy Medical Center.^[14] His funeral was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Monrovia on February 5. He was buried at his family cemetery in Greenville the following day.^[15]

• "A Panegyric for Cllr. Johnnie Lewis" by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• "Remembering a Great Son of Liberia" – obituary in the Liberian Observer