Jasmine J. Johnson is a staff attorney with the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois, where she represents clients in complex federal criminal matters, including extradition, cybercrime, financial offenses, and grand jury investigations. She brings over a decade of courtroom experience to her practice, with prior roles as a research and writing specialist in the Western District of Louisiana, an assistant public defender in Caddo Parish, and a judicial staff attorney at the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal.
She is admitted to practice in Illinois and Louisiana, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Seventh Circuits. She was named one of the Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers (2025) and previously recognized as a Top 40 Under 40 in Criminal Defense (2023).
At DePaul University College of Law, Jasmine teaches the Public Interest Externship Seminar, where her instruction emphasizes professional identity formation, ethical lawyering, and applied skills for service-minded students. She also teaches in the 1L curriculum at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she collaborates on instructional design and supports early-stage lawyering development.
Jasmine is also a financial education advocate, a volunteer speaker with CARE Chicago, and a pro bono attorney with Administer Justice. Her work centers on holistic professional development, access to justice, and preparing students for thoughtful, purpose-driven careers.
She holds a B.A. in English (magna cum laude) from Claflin University, an M.P.A. from Southern University, and a J.D. from Southern University Law Center, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Race, Gender & Poverty and as a Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Fellow.