Carrie Johnson
Carrie Johnson is a justice correspondent for the Washington Desk.
She covers a wide variety of stories about justice issues, law enforcement, and legal affairs for NPR's flagship programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as the newscasts and NPR.org.
Johnson has chronicled major challenges to the landmark voting rights law, a botched law enforcement operation targeting gun traffickers along the Southwest border, and the Obama administration's deadly drone program for suspected terrorists overseas.
Prior to coming to NPR in 2010, Johnson worked at the Washington Post for 10 years, where she closely observed the FBI, the Justice Department, and criminal trials of the former leaders of Enron, HealthSouth, and Tyco. Earlier in her career, she wrote about courts for the weekly publication Legal Times.
Her work has been honored with awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Society for Professional Journalists, SABEW, and the National Juvenile Defender Center. She has been a finalist for the Loeb Award for financial journalism and for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for team coverage of the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas.
Johnson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Benedictine University in Illinois.
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Federal judges have stood as checks on Trump's power — but law clerks say behind closed doors, some created toxic, fear-driven workplaces where speaking out could end a career. -
Reporting the story that uncovered pervasive abuse of clerks by some judges
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The White House said it's reached deals with nine law firms to provide about $1 billion in pro bono services. But the details of those agreements remain murky. -
The decision reverses course on the use of consent decrees to ensure accountability of law enforcement agencies. It comes days before the anniversary of George Floyd's murder by a police officer. -
A typically routine election to lead the District of Columbia Bar Association has drawn outsized attention as lawyers and law firms come under attack from the Trump administration.
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With nearly 40 years of legal practice, lawyer Abbe Lowell has represented many powerful people. Now he's starting a new law firm to represent those who have drawn the ire of President Trump. -
The Justice Department lawyers defending the president's executive orders are struggling to answer questions and correct the record in front of judges. -
Two major law firms are suing the Trump administration. They're asking a judge to block executive orders that punish them because of their clients and the lawyers that they hired.
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The chief judge of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., is facing calls for impeachment after blocking one of President Trump's immigration plans.
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Impeachment threats against judges — and sometimes physical threats to their safety — compromise the independence of the judiciary, experts warn.
