Carrie Johnson Carrie Johnson is NPR's National Justice Correspondent.
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Carrie Johnson

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Carrie Johnson 2016
Linda Fittante/NPR

Carrie Johnson

Justice Correspondent

Carrie Johnson is NPR's National Justice Correspondent.

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. Johnson regularly appears on the NPR Politics Podcast.

Prior to coming to NPR in 2010, Johnson worked at the Washington Post for 10 years. 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, and SABEW. She served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University from 2019-2020. In 2021, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers honored Johnson with a rarely-bestowed Champion of Justice award for her journalism work.

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. She sits on the advisory board for the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW-M and the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit.

Story Archive

Friday

Prosecutors Isia Jasiewicz, Jennifer Blackwell, Sara Levine and Carolyn Jackson left the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington this year. Now they're working together again in the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney for Arlington County, Va. hide caption

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These fired DOJ lawyers are finding new ways to make a difference

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Thursday

Fired FBI agents sue bureau, accusing agency leaders of a campaign of retribution

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Wednesday

FBI Director Kash Patel delivers remarks as President Trump looks on during a White House press conference in August 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

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Fired FBI agents allege retribution, incompetence at top security agency

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Friday

DC Grand Juries

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Tuesday

President Trump visits the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 21 in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration has deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the district to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Friday

In this July 2, 2020, file photo, Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference in New York. John Minchillo/AP hide caption

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John Minchillo/AP

Monday

Firings and forced resignations at FBI worry veterans of the agency

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Friday

Feds take over DC-wrap

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Wednesday

DOJ faces off against entire Maryland federal bench on Wednesday

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Monday

An image of U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, along with the words "President Trump: Release All the Epstein Files", is projected onto the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building in July 2025 in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

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Friday

Justice Department escalates its campaign against Trump's perceived political enemies

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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference on Jan. 8. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into James' office over its civil fraud case against President Trump. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Monday

Federal judges facing threats after ruling against the Trump administration speak out

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Thursday

Layoffs at the Department of Justice are transforming its workforce

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Wednesday

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in June 2025 in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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3 fired DOJ workers add to chorus of layoffs in ‘foundering’ workforce

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Wednesday

Attorney Emil Bove looks on during sentencing for then-President-elect Donald Trump's hush money conviction in a Manhattan courtroom on Jan. 10, 2025. Angela Weiss/AP hide caption

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Angela Weiss/AP

Monday

Trump's nomination of Emil Bove to the federal bench exposes a rift

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Thursday

EMIL BOVE VOTE

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Emil Bove, President Trump's pick to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on June 25. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Senate panel to vote on federal judge nomination for Emil Bove, who defended Trump

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Wednesday

Gavels and law books are shown, July 14, 2010 in San Francisco, Calif. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

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Jeff Chiu/AP

Tuesday

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in June. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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DOJ sues entire federal district court in Maryland over policy on immigration cases

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Friday

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP hide caption

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J. Scott Applewhite, File/AP

The Supreme Court releases decisions on the last day of their term

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