About the Author

Laura Coates is a senior legal analyst for CNN, a SiriusXM host, and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law. A former federal prosecutor, she served as assistant United States attorney for the District of Columbia and a trial attorney in the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, specializing in the enforcement of voting rights throughout the United States. As a civil rights attorney, she traveled throughout the nation supervising local and national elections and led investigations into allegations of unconstitutional voting practices. In private practice, she was an intellectual-property litigator with an expertise in first amendment and media law. She is a graduate of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Laura Coates is a senior legal analyst for CNN, a SiriusXM host, and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law. A former federal prosecutor, she served as assistant United States attorney for the District of Columbia and a trial attorney in the civil rights division of the Department of Justice, specializing in the enforcement of voting rights throughout the United States. As a civil rights attorney, she traveled throughout the nation supervising local and national elections and led investigations into allegations of unconstitutional voting practices. In private practice, she was an intellectual-property litigator with an expertise in first amendment and media law. She is a graduate of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Reviews

A personal, heartfelt, eloquent, and sobering examination of the nexus of justice and humanity.-- "Booklist"

Coates clearly demonstrates how our sense of justice is conditioned by who we are...Sobering reading and an eloquent case for reform for a more equitable distribution of justice.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

A firsthand, eye-opening story of a prosecutor that exposes the devastating criminal punishment system. Laura Coates bleeds for justice on the page.-- "Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author"