Carrie Johnson

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

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.

While in this role, 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.

Outside of her role at NPR, Johnson regularly moderates or appears on legal panels for the American Bar Association, the American Constitution Society, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and others. She's talked about her work on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, PBS, and other outlets.

Her work has been honored with awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. 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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It's All Politics
5:22 pm
Mon December 31, 2012

Chief Justice John Roberts On Fiscal Woes: Don't Look At Us

Credit Ann Wilkins / AP
Chief Justice John Roberts speaks in Farmington, Pa., in June.

Chief Justice John Roberts wants everyone to know the federal judiciary is doing its part to keep down government costs. Roberts used his year-end report on the state of the courts to point out that the judicial branch consumes "a miniscule portion of the federal budget" — about $7 billion in fiscal year 2012, or two-tenths of 1 percent of the total government budget.

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Law
2:45 am
Tue December 18, 2012

'Black America's Law Firm' Looks To Big Cases With New Leadership

Credit Courtesy of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Sherrilyn Ifill will become the new president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in January.

Originally published on Mon March 25, 2013 1:47 pm

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has been called the law firm for black America. Once run by Thurgood Marshall, the group played a major role in desegregating public schools and fighting restrictions at the ballot box.

Now, the Legal Defense Fund is preparing for a new leader — just as the Supreme Court considers cases that could pare back on those gains.

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Shootings In Newtown, Conn.
6:47 pm
Fri December 14, 2012

Authorities Release Name Of Newtown, Conn. Shooter

Originally published on Mon December 17, 2012 9:27 am

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It's All Politics
2:26 am
Thu December 13, 2012

Report On CIA Interrogation Tactics Revives Torture Debate

Credit Alex Wong / Getty Images
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., have opposing views about a report detailing CIA detention and interrogation practices.

Originally published on Thu December 13, 2012 8:03 am

In a closed-door meeting Thursday, lawmakers will consider whether to approve a secret report that chronicles CIA detention and interrogation practices — including methods that critics have compared to torture.

That report — along with the release of a new movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden — is rekindling an old debate about whether those methods worked.

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Law
4:04 am
Fri November 30, 2012

Federal 'Compassionate' Prison Release Rarely Given

Credit iStockphoto.com
A new report says federal prison officials rarely grant "compassionate release," even for the most gravely ill inmates.

Originally published on Fri November 30, 2012 6:05 am

Back in 1984, Congress gave authorities the power to let people out of federal prison early, in extraordinary circumstances, like if inmates were gravely ill or dying. But a new report says the Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few inmates from taking advantage of "compassionate release."

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