Calvin C. Johnson

Calvin Johnson
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 9th district
In office
January 3, 1967 – February 9, 1970
Preceded byDistrict Created
Succeeded byBill Bowen
Personal details
Born1929 (1929)
DiedJune 2018(2018-06-00) (aged 88–89)
Political partyDemocratic

Calvin Crawford Johnson Sr. (1929 – June 2018) was an American politician who served as a member of the Ohio Senate from January 3, 1967 to February 9, 1970. His district encompassed the majority of the city of Cincinnati. He resigned "for personal reasons" and was succeeded by Bill Bowen.[1] After moving to Atlanta, Georgia, Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 13, 1971, on charges of tax evasion committed from 1965 to 1967.[2] He pleaded no contest and was placed on probation for two years by District Judge David Stewart Porter.[3]

He was married to Jo Ann Jones. In 1999, their son Calvin Crawford Johnson Jr. (1958–2023) was the first person exonerated by DNA evidence in Georgia after a criminal conviction, after 16 years' imprisonment for rape and burglary. He wrote a memoir, and was a leader of the Innocence Project in New York and Georgia.[4][5][6] Johnson Sr. died in June 2018.[7]

  1. ^ "Ohio Legislators Move: Burden In: Bowen Waits". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 11, 1970.
  2. ^ "Ex-State Senator One Of 4 Indicted For Tax Evasion". The Evening Review. East Liverpool, Ohio. April 14, 1971.
  3. ^ "Ex-Senator On Probation". The Times Recorder. Zanesville, Ohio. June 29, 1971.
  4. ^ Johnson, Calvin C. (2003). Exit to Freedom. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820325590. Exit to Freedom.
  5. ^ "Calvin Johnson". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. January 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "DNA clears man jailed 16 years for rape". Chicago Tribune. June 16, 1999.
  7. ^ "Calvin Johnson Sr". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 14, 2018.