Matthew B. Johnson’s general interest involves how psychology informs due process. His scholarship, practice, and research have focused on the areas of interrogation and confession, mental status defenses, and parental rights termination in family court. He has a current empirical research project evaluating - “Expectations of police compliance with Miranda protections”, which illustrates a widely held belief that police will not honor the right to remain silent. Professor Johnson developed a Masters level course on “Interrogation and Confession” that is offered to both psychology and criminal justice students. Professor Johnson has several publications related to parental rights termination in family court and he recently completed a chapter titled, “African-Americans facing parental rights termination proceedings” in Critical race realism: Intersections of psychology, race, and law.
Professor Johnson frequently provides expert witness testimony in criminal and family court matters. His publications and testimony have been cited favorably in several New Jersey Appellate and Supreme Court decisions. He has published widely in professional journals and law reviews. Professor Johnson serves on the Executive Committee of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NJADP.org). He also was a member of the American Bar Association, Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities – Task Force on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty. In 2003 Dr. Johnson received the Frantz Fanon MD Memorial Award from the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus of the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health. He was named the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2007.