About

The provided page text does not contain a professional biography or detailed information about Professor Leslie Johns's research focus, background, or key contributions. Therefore, the JSON output is an empty string for the biography.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Law
• Macroeconomics
• Monetary economics
• Market economy
• International economics
• Economics
• International trade
• Industrial organization
• Microeconomics
• Business

Selected publications

• Immigration, Justice Remittances, and US Courts

  International Studies Quarterly · 2025-06-11

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Many immigrants to the United States are victims of crimes that occurred in their home countries. US courts usually will not rule on legal violations that occur outside of US territory. However, starting in 1980, US federal courts sometimes allow foreign nationals to use the Alien Tort Statute to seek civil remedies for international law violations on foreign territory. We argue that these civil remedies are justice remittances from the United States to the foreign countries where the violations occurred. We additionally argue that immigrants are a key driving force in generating the demand for these justice remittances. We identify the filing districts for legal complaints that yield Alien Tort Statute judicial opinions. We then use individual-level immigration data from the US Census that we aggregate to match federal judicial districts. We find compelling evidence that immigrants are agents of justice who demand justice remittances from US courts.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Politics and International Law

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2025-12-23

  book1st authorCorresponding

  International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. Yet it is often considered the exclusive domain of professionals with years of legal training. This second edition text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow it, and how it is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, or the Israel/Gaza war, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and are paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a test bank for instructors.

  PublisherDOI

• Living with impunity versus living in fear: Universal jurisdiction defendants, due process, and the use of democracies by autocracies to prosecute their opponents

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The Politics of Punishment: Why Dictators Join the International Criminal Court

  International Studies Quarterly · 2024-06-24 · 2 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Scholars commonly argue that international law and organizations promote democracy by helping dictators to credibly commit to accountability, individual rights, and transparency. Yet dictators routinely join treaties and international organizations without transitioning to democracy. International law and organizations can generate asymmetric costs for domestic actors because international rules often apply to both governments and non-state actors, yet dictators can limit how these rules are upheld at the domestic and international level. We argue that dictators are most likely to join such treaties and international organizations when they face strong domestic political competition. We illustrate our argument using the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has extensive powers to prosecute individuals for international crimes, including crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. We show that ICC investigations and prosecutions have become a tool for incumbent dictators to target their domestic opponents. We examine the implications of our theory for multiple outcome variables, including the decision to join the ICC, violence, and the survival of dictators in power. Our evidence suggests that dictators are most likely to join the ICC when they face strong political opponents and are subsequently less likely to commit violence and more likely to survive in office.

  PublisherDOI

• Living with impunity versus living in fear: Universal jurisdiction defendants, due process, and the use of democracies by autocracies to prosecute their opponents

  Leiden Journal of International Law · 2024-12-12 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract This article introduces a new analytical category to provide a more accurate, comprehensive, and nuanced account of universal jurisdiction defendants: defendants living in fear. In contrast to defendants living with impunity, defendants living in fear are defendants whose home state is very much willing and able to prosecute and punish them. Using an original database, this article shows that there is a substantial number of universal jurisdiction defendants who live in fear, and that their percentage has increased since the early 2000s. The article also shows that defendants living in fear are more than ten times more likely to be arrested and more than 30 times more likely to be tried than defendants living with impunity. In addition, this article argues that the function and justification of universal jurisdiction for defendants living in fear is not (only) the traditional justification of avoiding impunity, but (also) providing a fair trial that prevents wrongful convictions, and then assigning proportionate punishment if the defendant is found guilty. Finally, this article discusses what democracies should do with living-in-fear cases to avoid being instruments of autocratic regimes that often prompt or encourage universal jurisdiction cases in other states against their military and political opponents.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Migration and the Demand for Transnational Justice

  MANZ'sche Verlags- und Universitätsbuchhandlung GmbH eBooks · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Upholding International Law

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2022-06-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. It affects the food we eat, the products we buy, the rights we hold, and the wars we fight. Yet international law is often believed to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled professionals with years of legal training. This text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary political examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow international law, and how international law is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as the bombing of Yemen or the use of chemical weapons in Syria, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and self-contained, and each is paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a testbank for instructors.

  PublisherDOI

• Preface

  2022-06-09

  other1st authorCorresponding

  International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. It affects the food we eat, the products we buy, the rights we hold, and the wars we fight. Yet international law is often believed to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled professionals with years of legal training. This text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary political examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow international law, and how international law is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as the bombing of Yemen or the use of chemical weapons in Syria, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and self-contained, and each is paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a testbank for instructors.

  PublisherDOI

• Politics and International Law

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2022-06-09 · 10 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. It affects the food we eat, the products we buy, the rights we hold, and the wars we fight. Yet international law is often believed to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled professionals with years of legal training. This text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary political examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow international law, and how international law is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as the bombing of Yemen or the use of chemical weapons in Syria, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and self-contained, and each is paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a testbank for instructors.

  PublisherDOI

• Investment

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2022-06-09

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  International law shapes nearly every aspect of our lives. It affects the food we eat, the products we buy, the rights we hold, and the wars we fight. Yet international law is often believed to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled professionals with years of legal training. This text uses clear, accessible writing and contemporary political examples to explain where international law comes from, how actors decide whether to follow international law, and how international law is upheld using legal and political tools. Suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, this book is accessible to a wide audience and is written for anyone who wants to understand how global rules shape and transform international politics. Each chapter is framed by a case study that examines a current political issue, such as the bombing of Yemen or the use of chemical weapons in Syria, encouraging students to draw connections between theoretical concepts and real-world situations. The chapters are modular and self-contained, and each is paired with multiple Supplemental Cases: edited and annotated judicial opinions. Accompanied by ready-to-use PowerPoint slides and a testbank for instructors.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Krzysztof Pelc

  Korea University

  10 shared

• Rachel L. Wellhausen

  The University of Texas at Austin

  5 shared

• Máximo Langer

  4 shared

• B. Peter Rosendorff

  New York University

  4 shared

• Michael Gilligan

  New York University

  3 shared

• Margaret E. Peters

  University of California, Los Angeles

  3 shared

• R. Narayanan

  University of Florida

  1 shared

• Lauren Peritz

  University of California, Davis

  1 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Department of Politics

  New York University

  2008

• M.S.

  Carnegie Mellon University

• Other

  Carnegie Mellon University

Awards & honors

• Strengthening International Courts: The Hidden Costs of Lega…