Lea Johnston is the Clarence J. TeSelle Professor of Law at the University of Florida. Her research explores the intersection of mental impairment, criminal procedure, and criminal law. A productive scholar, Johnston’s work has appeared in top law reviews and interdisciplinary journals, and her theory of sentencing informs the theoretical framework for the standard forensic psychiatry textbook. 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.
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.