Biography
One of the New Jersey 4, a group of young African-American lesbian women from Newark who were attacked by a male bystander while visiting Manhattan's West Village on August 18, 2006. The man made homophobic and sexist comments and told one woman he would 'f—k her straight'; when the women defended themselves a physical altercation ensued and they were arrested. Three co-defendants took plea bargains; four were convicted in April 2007. Johnson, only 19 at sentencing, received an 11-year sentence.
Custody precision review October 13, 2026: The Advocate's contemporary interview anticipated an August 2013 release; it does not establish an actual exit day. The existing retrospectively documented August release month is retained, but the unsupported 2,540-day total is cleared because admission is unknown and release is month-only. The exact admission and actual release day remain unresolved; neither is calculated from sentence length or the planned release.
In her oral history, Johnson recalls returning home on pretrial bail, so her arrest cannot establish continuous imprisonment. She describes supportive prison friendships and education, then housing and benefits barriers after release. These are her retrospective experiences, not new custody endpoints.
