E. Lea Johnston
University of Florida Research Foundation Professor 2020-2023
Professor of Law
Email:
johnstonl@law.ufl.edu
Phone:
(352) 273-0794
Expertise
About
Lea Johnston is a leading expert in the areas of mental health and criminal law and procedure. A productive scholar, her work has appeared in top law reviews, including the Washington University Law Review, the Florida Law Review, the Notre Dame Law Review, and the Georgia Law Review, among others. She also publishes in top peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journals, including Behavioral Sciences and the Law, among others. Her work has been widely cited by legal scholars and appears in leading treatises in criminal law, constitutional law, and criminal procedure. Her work has also received attention from courts and social scientists, and her theory of sentencing forms part of the theoretical framework for the standard textbook for forensic psychiatry fellowship programs.
In 2020, Johnston was elected into the American Law Institute. She has served as Chair of both the Criminal Justice Section and the Law and Mental Disability Section of the American Association of Law Schools. She has also served on the Legal Scholars Committee of the American Psychology-Law Society.
Professor Johnston earned her A.B. from Princeton University and her J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School. She previously worked as a litigation associate at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, D.C., and director of the Maryland Public Interest Research Group in Baltimore, MD. Johnston clerked for Judge Richard Tallman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Johnston is currently a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor and Associate Director of the Race and Crime Center for Justice.
Education
A.B., Princeton University
J.D. (cum laude), Harvard Law School
Expertise
Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Mental Health Law
Courses
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Procedure: Adversary System
- Mental Health Law
Publications
Articles
- Imperfect Insanity and Diminished Responsibility, 76 FLA. L. R. __ (2024)
- Diminished Criminal Responsibility: A Multinational Comparative Review, 91 INT’L J. L. & PSYCHIATRY 101919 (2023) (with Kendall D. Runyan, Fernando José Silva, and Francisco Maldonado Fuentes) [Link]
- Extreme Emotional Disturbance: Legal Frameworks and Considerations for Forensic Evaluation, 40 BEHAV. SCI. & L. 733 (2022) (with Christina L. Gliser, Jonathon Haney, Dana Formon, Naoko Hashimoto, and Nadia Rossbach) [SSRN]
- Psychosis, Heat of Passion, and Diminished Responsibility, 63 B.C. L.R. 1227 (2022) (with Vincent T. Leahey) [SSRN]
- Delusions, Moral Incapacity, and the Case for Moral Wrongfulness, 97 Ind. L.J. 297 (2022) [SSRN]
- The Status and Legitimacy of M’Naghten’s Insane Delusion Rule, 54 UC Davis L. Rev. 1777 (2021) (co-authored with Vince Leahey) [SSRN]
- Reconceptualizing Criminal Justice Reform for Offenders with Serious Mental Illness, 71 Fla. L. Rev. 515 (2019) [SSRN]
- Legal and Clinical Issues Regarding the Pro Se defendant: Guidance for Practitioners and Policy Makers, 25 Psych., Pub. Pol. & L. 196 (2019) (co-authored with Christina L. Patton, Colleen M. Lillard, and Michael J. Viacco) [SSRN]
- Retributive Theories Justifying Jail Diversion for Offenders with Mental Illness, 35 Behav. Sci. & L. 1 (2017) [SSRN]
- Mental Health Courts and Sentencing Disparities, 62 Villanova L. R. 685 (2017) (coauthored with Conor Flynn) [SSRN]
- Communication and Competence for Self-Representation, 84 Fordham L. R. 2121 (2016). [SSRN]
- Modifying Unjust Sentences, 49 Ga. L. Rev. 433 (2015) [SSRN]
- Smoke and Mirrors: Model Penal Code § 305.7 and Compassionate Release, 4 Wake Forest J. L. & Pol’y 49 (2014) [SSRN]
- Conditions of Confinement at Sentencing: The Case of Seriously Disordered Offenders, 63 Cath. U. L. Rev. 625 (2014) [SSRN]
- Vulnerability and Desert: A Theory of Sentencing and Mental Illness, 103 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 147 (2013) [SSRN]
- Theorizing Mental Health Courts, 89 Wash. U. L. Rev. 519 (2012) [SSRN]
- Representational Competence: Defining the Limits of the Right to Self-Representation at Trial, 86 Notre Dame L. Rev. 523 (2011) [SSRN]
- Setting the Standard: A Critique of Bonnie’s Competency Standard and the Potential of Problem-Solving Theory for Self-Representation at Trial, 43 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1605 (2010) [SSRN]
- An Administrative ‘Death Sentence’ for Asylum Seekers: Deprivation of Due Process Under 8 U.S.C. §1158(D)(6)’s Frivolousness Standard [SSRN]