Professor of Law · Rutgers Law School
Thea Johnson
Scholar of criminal procedure and one of the country's leading experts on plea bargaining practice and reform.
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
Rutgers Law School · Camden, NJ
Professor Johnson's scholarship examines how stakeholders manipulate the plea process and stretch ethical boundaries to achieve particular outcomes. Before academia she practiced as a public defender with the Federal Defenders of New York and The Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Division.
Areas of Expertise
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Procedure
- Evidence
- Plea Bargaining Practice & Reform
- Criminal Trial Practice
Academic Positions
Professor of Law
Rutgers Law School, Camden, NJ
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, 2024–Present
Visiting Professor of Law
Columbia Law School, New York, NY
Fall 2024 & Fall 2025
Associate Professor of Law
University of Maine School of Law, Portland, ME
2017–2020 · Law Professor of the Year 2019 & 2020
Thomas C. Grey Fellow & Lecturer in Law
Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA
2012–2015
Selected Scholarship
- ·Plea Agreements/Deals/Bargains, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology (2025)
- ·The “Why” and the “Should” of Plea Bargaining in Sex Crimes Cases, 110 Iowa L. Rev. Online 67 (2024)
- ·Trial Ambivalence, 20 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 269 (2024)
- ·Co-editor, The Cost of Plea Bargains (ABA Plea Bargain Task Force) (2024)
- ·Victims of Coercive Plea Bargaining, 72 Am. U. L. Rev. 1919 (2023)
- ·Lying at Plea Bargaining, 38 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 673 (2022) — 2022 Lastowka Award
- ·Fictional Pleas, 94 Ind. L. J. 855 (2019) — Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum
Selected Service
Reporter
American Bar Association Plea Bargain Task Force (2019–2023)
Authored the 2023 Plea Bargain Task Force Report — fourteen principles and ethical guidance for policymakers, judges, and lawyers nationwide.
For Media, Expert Testimony & Speaking
Get in Touch
Available for media commentary, expert testimony, and speaking engagements on plea bargaining, criminal procedure, and criminal trial practice. Reach out directly by email.
Theajohnson@gmail.com