TEAM T-N-T

Graduation season 2026 is upon us! I relish this and every opportunity to celebrate our graduates, to see the fruits of our labor - in action, and to reflect on all that was, is, and is yet to come. Congratulations and cheers to you, 2026 graduates! 🎓 🎉 🌟 ♥ 👏🏽 .gsu

CARE FEATURED SPEAKERS: Natasha Johnson Edd Thaddeus Johnson, PhD!! This workshop will immediately follow the Philly Backyard Breeding presentation. TEAM T-N-T

Fines and fees are often framed as an accountability tool. In practice, they can operate as revenue extraction—deepening poverty, widening racial inequity, destabilizing families, and making it harder for people to keep or recover the animals they love. This session connects criminal legal fines and fees to pet policy and animal welfare systems, examines the laws and practices that worsen harm, and highlights reforms that replace punishment with support.

Dr. Natasha N. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in Augusta University Augusta University College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Research, Counseling & Curriculum. A career educator since 2001, she brings more than two decades of K–20 experience as a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant dean, instructional leader, and curriculum developer in the United States and abroad. Her scholarship centers on critical theory, equity, and social justice leadership, with additional interests in intersectionality, educational law, policy, governance, and curriculum development. Dr. Johnson is a David L. Clark Scholar, CETLOE Faculty Teaching Fellow, IGI Global Scientific Publishing Ambassador, and Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education Leadership Fellow whose work appears in scholarly and public venues.

Dr. Thaddeus L. Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and a board member of CARE. A former law enforcement official in Tennessee, his scholarship focuses on policing, crime control, governance, street violence, algorithmic bias, and correctional control. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and reports, as well as the Taylor & Francis Routledge book Deviance among Physicians: Fraud, Violence, and the Power to Prescribe. His work has appeared widely in national and international media.

FEATURED SPEAKERS: Dr. Natasha N. Johnson and Dr. Thaddeus L. Johnson!! 
This workshop will immediately follow the Philly Backyard Breeding presentation. Fines and fees are often framed as an accountability tool. In practice, they can operate as revenue extraction—deepening poverty, widening racial inequity, destabilizing families, and making it harder for people to keep or recover the animals they love. This session connects criminal legal fines and fees to pet policy and animal welfare systems, examines the laws and practices that worsen harm, and highlights reforms that replace punishment with support. Dr. Natasha N. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in Augusta University’s Department of Research, Counseling & Curriculum. A career educator since 2001, she brings more than two decades of K–20 experience as a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant dean, instructional leader, and curriculum developer in the United States and abroad. Her scholarship centers on critical theory, equity, and social justice leadership, with additional interests in intersectionality, educational law, policy, governance, and curriculum development. Dr. Johnson is a David L. Clark Scholar, CETLOE Faculty Teaching Fellow, IGI Global Scientific Publishing Ambassador, and GAWHE Leadership Fellow whose work appears in scholarly and public venues. Dr. Thaddeus L. Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and a board member of CARE. A former law enforcement official in Tennessee, his scholarship focuses on policing, crime control, governance, street violence, algorithmic bias, and correctional control. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and reports, as well as the book Deviance among Physicians: Fraud, Violence, and the Power to Prescribe. His work has appeared widely in national and international media. #thankstomaddie #CAREgathering2026 #humanandanimalwellbeing

It’s a GSU love story! In Spring 2019, Natasha Johnson (Ed.D. ʼ19) graduated with an Ed.D. in educational leadership. From there, she spent six years as a clinical instructor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Her husband, Thaddeus L. Johnson (Ph.D. ʼ20) earned his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology in 2020 and remained in the department as an assistant professor. He’s now up for a promotion and slated to be an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology, and Natasha recently transitioned to Augusta University as an assistant professor. The couple married January 1, 2009 and celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary this year! Got something about GSU YOU love? Drop a comment or Share Your Story: http://d.gsu.edu/shareyourstory

Georgia State Alumni Georgia State University Thaddeus Johnson, PhD Natasha Johnson Edd TEAM T-N-T ❤️💕🎁🎈🎉😍

It’s a GSU love story! In Spring 2019, Natasha Johnson (Ed.D. ʼ19) graduated with an Ed.D. in educational leadership. From there, she spent six years as a clinical instructor in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Her husband, Thaddeus L. Johnson (Ph.D. ʼ20) earned his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology in 2020 and remained in the department as an assistant professor. He's now up for a promotion and slated to be an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology, and Natasha recently transitioned to Augusta University as an assistant professor. The couple married January 1, 2009 and celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary this year! Got something about GSU YOU love? Drop a comment or Share Your Story: http://d.gsu.edu/shareyourstory

Natasha (Faculty Spotlight: AI, Academic Freedom, and Truth) + Thaddeus ( Senior Fellow examines the unrest in Minneapolis, law enforcement response, and broader implications for public safety and policing nationwide) = 11Alive Augusta University Augusta University College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University TEAM T-N-T