Law and justice

Joseph Paul Franklin

Joseph Paul Franklin (born James Clayton Vaughn Jr., 1950–2013) was an American white supremacist serial killer who killed at least 15 people across 11 states in 1977–1980, shot Vernon Jordan and Larry Flynt, and was executed in Missouri in 2013.

Joseph R. Goodwin

Joseph R. Goodwin, born 1942, is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the Southern District of West Virginia since 1995, appointed by President Bill Clinton.

Joseph S. V. Bokkelen

Joseph S. Van Bokkelen (born 1943) is an American jurist serving as a senior judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana since 2017.

Oct 10, 2026

Joseph Sax

Joseph Sax (1936–2014) was an American legal scholar known as the father of environmental law, whose 1970 article revived the public trust doctrine for protecting natural resources.

Joseph Story

Joseph Story (1779–1845), youngest-ever U.S. Supreme Court justice (appointed 1812), Harvard's Dane Professor, author of the 1833 Commentaries on the Constitution and major opinions Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, Amistad, Swift v. Tyson, and Prigg v. Pennsylvania.

Joseph Valachi

Joseph Michael Valachi (born 1904), aka Joe Cargo, Charles Sanbano, Anthony Sorge, was a Genovese crime family soldier who in October 1963 became the first Mafioso to break omertà publicly, testifying before a Senate subcommittee and revealing the name La Cosa Nostra; his memoir inspired The Valachi Papers.

Joseph Wapner

Joseph Wapner (1919–2017), Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, first presiding judge of The People's Court (1981–1993, 2,484 episodes), later Judge Wapner's Animal Court, 2009 Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814), French physician and Paris deputy who proposed machine decapitation in 1789; the guillotine, designed by Antoine Louis, was named for him, though he did not invent it and died naturally in 1814.

Josephine L. Staton

Josephine L. Staton is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the Central District of California since 2010, appointed by Barack Obama.

Josh Divine

Joshua M. Divine (born 1990, Yokota Air Base, Tokyo) is a U.S. district judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, Trump-nominated May 12, 2025, confirmed 51-46 July 22, 2025; former Missouri solicitor general, Hawley chief counsel, and Thomas clerk.

Josh Duggar

Josh Duggar (Joshua James Duggar, born 1988), eldest child of the Duggar family of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting, former FRC Action executive director, convicted in 2021 of receiving child sexual abuse material and sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.

Josh Kaul

Josh Kaul is an American Democratic politician and attorney who has served as Attorney General of Wisconsin since 2019, after working as a federal prosecutor in Baltimore.

Josh Phillips (murderer)

Joshua Earl Patrick Phillips is an American who killed 8-year-old Maddie Clifton in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998, at age 14, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders

Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders: ten 1976-77 Pune killings by students Rajendra Jakkal, Dilip Sutar, Shantaram Jagtap, and Munawar Shah, including the Abhyankar family massacre; death sentence 1978, hanged at Yerawada in 1983.

Joshua D. Wolson

Joshua D. Wolson, born Joshua David Wolson in 1974, is a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, appointed by President Trump in 2019.

Joshua Dunlap

Joshua Dale Dunlap (born 1983) is a U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit judge, nominated by Trump in 2025, confirmed 52-46 to the Kayatta seat; formerly a Pierce Atwood partner in Portland, Maine.

Joshua P. Kolar

Joshua P. Kolar is an American jurist serving as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 2024, appointed by President Biden.

Joshua Simmons

Joshua Bradford Simmons (born 1982, Abingdon, Virginia) is an American lawyer and CIA General Counsel, confirmed 53-47 on January 6, 2026; formerly State Department Principal Deputy Legal Adviser and Wiley Rein partner.

Josiah Bartlett

Josiah Bartlett (1729–1795), New Hampshire physician and statesman of Kingston, first to vote for independence and second signer of the Declaration, signer of the Articles of Confederation, and state governor 1790–1794.

Journal of African Law

Journal of African Law (ISSN 0021-8553, 1464-3731 online), founded 1957 for SOAS University of London and published by Cambridge University Press, is a peer-reviewed law journal covering all African legal topics, open access from volume 70.

Journal of International Economic Law

Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL), Oxford University Press peer-reviewed quarterly on law and international economic activity, founded by John H. Jackson, publishing since 1998; 2025 Impact Factor 3.6, ranked 9/443 in Law.

Joy F. Conti

Joy F. Conti, also known as Joy Flowers Conti, is an American jurist serving as a senior United States district judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania since 2018.

Joyce Vance

Joyce White Vance, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama (2009-2017), is a University of Alabama law professor, Brennan Center senior fellow, and MSNBC legal analyst who writes Civil Discourse and co-hosts #SistersInLaw.

Joymalya Bagchi

Joymalya Bagchi (जॉयमाल्या बागची), Indian Supreme Court judge since 17 March 2025, formerly Calcutta High Court judge (2011–2025), argued against the Dwikhondito ban, in line to be Chief Justice of India in May 2031.

Józef Wybicki

Józef Wybicki (1747–1822) was a Polish lawyer, writer, and political activist, author of the words of Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, the Polish national anthem, which he wrote in Italy in 1797.

József Hajnóczy

József Hajnóczy (1750–1795) was a Hungarian lawyer, jurist, and writer, a leader of the Hungarian Jacobin movement and the first to expound liberal principles in Hungarian political thought.

Juan Bautista Alberdi

Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810–1884) was an Argentine jurist, writer, and diplomat from Tucumán whose 1852 book Bases served as the fundamental reference for the Argentine Constitution of 1853.

Juan Corona

Juan Vallejo Corona, Mexican-born California farm labor contractor and serial killer, convicted of murdering 25 itinerant farmworkers buried in Yuba City-area peach orchards in 1971; first conviction overturned, 1982 retrial conviction upheld; died 2019.

Juan de Ovando

Juan de Ovando was a Spanish ecclesiastic, jurist, and royal minister under Philip II who served as president of the Council of the Indies from 1571 to 1575.