Dr. Carmen Johnson

For 25 years, Dr. Carmen Johnson has tirelessly forged a legacy, igniting and invigorating diverse communities across social, civic, and economic fronts. Her grassroots efforts are deeply rooted in the belief that financial responsibility and generational wealth vitality form the bedrock of communal success. Carmen's boundless tenacity drives her to reshape the trajectories of low-income areas and address a range of issues in marginalized urban neighborhoods scarred by historical injustices, particularly within the court system affecting Black and Brown people. Her fervor shines through in her role as the Director of Court Watch and Judicial Accountability since 2020, a position powered by Life After Release (LAR). This court watch program demonstrates Carmen's unwavering commitment to preventing others from experiencing her own harrowing ordeal within the justice system. She helped create a National Court Watch Network in 2021 that reaches across the waters to the United Kingdom.

In a testament to her dedication, as an advocate laser-focused on social justice and civic engagement, she champions the cause for socially impacted people, including mothers, children, senior citizens, the disabled, veterans, LGBTQIA+ individuals, the mass-incarcerated, and most importantly, our youth who are becoming the new residents of jails across the country. Carmen and her sister founded Helping Ourselves to Transform in 2018 to promote social justice and teach civic engagement from the grassroots up, confronting the web of injustice in marginalized communities. Tirelessly researching, analyzing policies, and crafting legislative drafts, reviewing laws, procedures, and policies, Carmen’s efforts are relentless as she educates and promotes the importance of civic engagement. Her focus extends to advocating for and educating the voiceless and is dedicated to liberating socially impacted people while promoting civic engagement. Carmen's lobbying influence reverberates within legislative corridors, where her advocacy work finds eager ears at every level of governance. She lectures at various universities around the country, including Harvard, Yale, and American University, targeting student lawyers. Her impact is epitomized in her 2022 published book, 'The Pretense of Justice.' Carmen has created three teacher workbooks for law, psychology, and sociology students that stemmed from this must-read book.

Carmen holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy, a scholar of Metaphysics, the Science of the Mind, and Mental Science. She also holds a certification as a paralegal, having undertaken extensive studies in the criminal justice domain. Currently, she is pursuing certification as an American with Disabilities Legal Advocate. Unwavering in the face of past injustices, Carmen serves on numerous boards and committees, including the Council for Court Excellence, American Bar Association, National Bar Association, the United Nations, and she sits on a congressional advisory board for Congressman Glenn Ivey focused on reentry. She is working on a second book to highlight the challenges faced by professional people returning home from incarceration, particularly women. Carmen’s journey, sparked by her own wrongful conviction and subsequent three-year confinement, has been a catalyst for profound change, aiming to bring mass liberation to all marginalized groups of people in our communities and our country.