03/08/2018
Leisa Johnson grew up in Washington, D.C., in a family shattered by the effects of alcohol and domestic violence. Ms. Johnson silently endured molestation at the hands of a babysitter. Still unable to read or count by the age of 10, Ms. Johnson was labeled mildly re****ed and unable to learn. At 10 years old, she went to live with her grandmother in Albany, Georgia.
Ms. Johnson’s grandmother asked a church member, who was an educator, to teach her granddaughter to read. Ms. Johnson became an avid reader. At 13 years old, Johnson moved to Maryland with her mother. Ms. Johnson went on to graduate valedictorian from DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland, and magna cm laude from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Ms. Johnson received her juris doctorate degree from The George Washington University National Law Center in Washington, D.C. Licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Georgia, Ms. Johnson is a courageous and well-respected trial lawyer, having practiced law for nearly 30 years.
After defying the odds that were stacked against her, Ms. Johnson returned to Albany, the place where God first healed the broken heart of a 10-year old child who was once spiritually and emotionally scarred and labeled too dumb to learn.
The brokenness from her childhood opened Ms. Johnson’s heart to hurting people. Ms. Johnson works tirelessly seeking mercy for poor and disadvantaged people who face harsh prison sentences. Ms. Johnson is often called a modern-day Harriett Tubman. In her spare time, Ms. Johnson studies diesel engine technology at Albany Technical College.
Ms. Johnson is the co-author of Grace Horse: The Redemption of a Teen Sentenced to Life.
