Innocence/Wrongful Convictions director elected to NACDL board of directors

Stephen Ross Johnson (‘02), a University of Tennessee College of Law adjunct professor and director of the Innocence/Wrongful Convictions Clinic, was recently sworn in for his second term as a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the association’s 59th annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 13.

Johnson is a longtime member of NACDL, having previously served as a member of the the association’s white collar crime and federal sentencing committee. He is also NACDL’s Sixth Circuit amicus vice-chair and has participated in the researching and drafting of amicus briefs on behalf of the association.

Locally, Johnson has served as a past president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (TACDL), an associate general counsel for the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), and chaired the TBA’s criminal justice section for three years. The TBA has awarded him its Access to Justice Award for his dedication to volunteer work.

Johnson practices criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels with Ritchie, Dillard, Davies & Johnson, P.C. in Knoxville. He primarily works in the areas of white collar offenses and major felonies and has argued or briefed cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Tennessee, and several state and federal appellate and trial courts.