Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Dies

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Byron Johnson died Sunday at his home. A cancerous tumor had returned earlier this year. Johnson, who was 75, graduated from Harvard Law School in 1962. A Democrat, he represented the Idaho Education Association teachers union for nearly two decades and served on the American Civil Liberties Union's board.

At age 50, he was appointed to Idaho's highest court in 1987 by then-Gov. Cecil Andrus. He retired in 1999. More recently, Johnson wrote a personal memoir published earlier this year, entitled "Poetic Justice." In it, he describes an extraordinary life, including his failed 1972 run for U.S. Senate, a similarly unsuccessful attempt to climb Alaska's Mount McKinley and his personal experiences at the riot-marred 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he was a delegate.