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E. Lea Johnston

E. Lea Johnston

Clarence J. TeSelle Professor

Professor of Law

(352) 273-0794

johnstonl@law.ufl.edu

CV

SSRN

E. Lea Johnston

Clarence J. TeSelle Professor
Professor of Law

Lea Johnston is the Clarence J. TeSelle Professor and Professor of Law at the University of Florida. She is a leading expert in the areas of mental health and criminal law and procedure. A productive scholar, Johnston’s work has appeared in top law reviews and peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journals. 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.

Education

A.B., Princeton University
J.D. (cum laude), Harvard Law School


Expertise

Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Mental Health


Courses

  • Criminal Law
  • Criminal Procedure: Adversary System
  • Mental Health Law


Publications

Articles

  • The Constitutionality of Assisted Outpatient Treatment, 86 Ohio St. L.J. 69 (2025) [SSRN]
  • Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A State-by-State Comparative Review, 73 Cleveland St. L.Rev. 723 (2025) (with Autumn Klein) [SSRN]
  • Imperfect Insanity and Diminished Responsibility, 76 Fla. L. Rev. 553 (2024) [SSRN]
  • 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. Rev. 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]