Eric A. Johnson – College of Law

Johnson invested as Edward W. Cleary Professor of Law

Chris Davies — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:26:03 +0000

On February 24, 2026, Eric A. Johnson was invested as the Edward W. Cleary Professor of Law in a ceremony at the College of Law Building. The investiture ceremony honored Johnson for his commitment to and ways he has helped further advance the mission of the University of Illinois College of Law.

In remarks shared at the ceremony, Professor Heidi Hurd praised his tenure at Illinois thus far: “Professor Johnson is a profoundly impactful scholar with an enviable national reputation for doing exquisitely careful, detailed and rigorous work.” Dean Jamelle Sharpe added an example of the impact he has had, noting that the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously sided with Johnson’s opinion of how causal problems in overdetermination cases ought to be resolved over that of former United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

Professor Johnson joined the University of Illinois in 2009 after a career as a government attorney. He spent 11 years in the Alaska Attorney General’s Office and an additional three years as assistant solicitor general in the New York State Attorney General’s Office before entering academia as the directo of the prosecution clinic at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Since coming to Illinois, Johnson has enhanced his reputation as an expert in criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. His work has been published in an array of peer- and student-edited journals, including Law and Philosophy, the Boston University Law Review, and the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Twice Johnson has received the college’s annual Carroll P. Hurd Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship; he has also served as associate dean for academic affairs and students named him the 2L Professor of the Year in 2013 and have chosen him as convocation hooder eight times. His full bio is available on his faculty profile page.

Professor Johnson’s endowed position was established by an estate donation from Albert E. Jenner in honor of Professor Edward Cleary. Cleary was a distinguished graduate of the Illinois Law Class of 1932 and went on to practice law and serve in the United States Navy before joining the College of Law faculty in 1946, where he established himself as an expert on legal procedure and evidence. Johnson, who was joined by members of his family at the ceremony, was honored with speeches from Dr. Amy Santos, associate provost for faculty development and professor in the Department of Special Education, as well as Professor Colleen Murphy, associate dean for academic affairs.

Watch the full investiture ceremony on our YouTube page.

USA Today quotes Johnson on shooting accountability cases

Law News — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:45:00 +0000

“I think the cases are a step in the right direction,” Professor Eric Johnson told USA Today about a new tactic from prosecutors in the battle against gun violence. Three separate cases have recently charged adults, such as parents and school principals, for failing to prevent adolescents from committing crimes involving firearms. This new legal approach has been successful in Michigan and Illinois and Johnson believes it could make gunowners think twice about their liability.

Read the full article from USA Today online.

Johnson quoted in NY Times and USA Today on trial of Highland Park shooter’s father

Law News — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 17:30:00 +0000

The father of the shooter at the Highland Park 4th of July parade pleaded guilty to seven counts of reckless conduct earlier in November, signaling that it is possible to hold family members accountable in similar cases. Professor Eric Johnson, a criminal law expert, spoke to the New York Times and USA Today about the case. Referring to the charges against the father in the case, Johnson said, “It’s a relatively novel — though I think defensible — theory of prosecution.”

While prosecutors are not changing the law or what it means to act recklessly, they are identifying new situations where they might apply it, he said.

More at nytimes.com and usatoday.com.