Sheri Lynn Johnson

Sheri Lynn Johnson is the James and Mark Flanagan Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, where she has taught since 1981. She co-founded the Cornell Death Penalty Project in 1993 and serves as its Assistant Director, leading empirical scholarship and student engagement in capital cases.

Education:

• J.D., Yale Law School, 1979

Research Focus: Professor Johnson is a leading scholar on race and criminal procedure, with particular expertise in the impact of racial bias on jury selection and the administration of the death penalty. Her work spans constitutional law, criminal law, and post-conviction litigation, emphasizing empirical analysis and clinical education.

She has recently argued and won Flowers v. Mississippi before the U.S. Supreme Court, securing the reversal of Curtis Flowers’ 2010 conviction on grounds of racial discrimination in jury selection—a landmark reaffirmation of Batson v. Kentucky.

Clinical Leadership: Johnson supervises students in the Post-Conviction Litigation Clinic and Capital Trial Clinic, providing hands-on experience in high-stakes death penalty defense.