Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor's Fight for Fairness

"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 of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist

When Laura Coates joined the Department of Justice as a prosecutor, she wanted to advocate for the most vulnerable among us. But she quickly realized that even with the best intentions, "the pursuit of justice creates injustice."

Through Coates's experiences, we see that no matter how fair you try to fight, being Black, a woman, and a mother are identities often at odds in the justice system. She and her colleagues face seemingly impossible situations as they teeter between what is right and what is just.

On the front lines of our legal system, Coates saw how Black communities are policed differently; Black cases are prosecuted differently; Black defendants are judged differently. How the court system seems to be the one place where minorities are overrepresented, an unrelenting parade of Black and Brown defendants in numbers that belie their percentage in the population and overfill American prisons. She also witnessed how others in the system either abused power or were abused by it — for example, when an undocumented witness was arrested by ICE, when a white colleague taught Coates how to unfairly interrogate a young Black defendant, or when a judge victim-blamed a young sexual assault survivor based on her courtroom attire.

Through these revelatory and captivating scenes from the courtroom, Laura Coates explores the tension between the idealism of the law and the reality of working within the parameters of our flawed legal system, exposing the chasm between what is right and what is lawful.

“Readers will appreciate Coates's much-needed fresh perspective of the inner workings of the prosecutorial system, and the book's heartfelt storytelling. Consider as a critical addition to collections focused on criminal law, discrimination, and racism.” Library Journal (Starred Review)

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

"Laura Coates, one of our most brilliant observers of the law, has written a tour de force about a crucial aspect of our legal system. She has also pulled off a valiant reversal to achieve a higher, more poetic justice: a woman who once prosecuted Black folk now stands as their mighty defender. In stories both chilling and heartbreaking, Coates details in searing prose how justice is too often fugitive in a system supposedly meant to serve it. After reading the gripping Just Pursuit, no one can deny that color and cash weigh the scales of justice in favor of those who are neither Black nor poor. This wise and compelling volume is a must read!" Michael Eric Dyson, author of Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America

"A searing and soul-searching book. At a time when the American justice system is being reexamined, Laura Coates forces readers to do their own self-examination." Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of Define American and author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

"What we fear most — what we avoid — is actually the thing that will save us all. I am now convinced that no one knows that better than Laura Coates. Her "Just Pursuit" is a brilliant guided journey into discovering other's humanity by becoming aware and comfortable with your own. Proximity is how we fix America's ailing justice system by first taking a clear-eyed, magnified look at the court system — prosecutors, lawyers and especially judges. Only someone with the required DNA to channel the souls of black folks, living and dead, could manage a feat that at once conjures anger, frustration, vulnerability, love and hope. What will transform the system? Perhaps a Black woman with Black children in America. A thing to behold! A thing to read!" Don Lemon, CNN Anchor and author of This Is The Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism

Watch the Powell’s virtual event with Laura Coates and Soledad O'Brien!

Laura Coates is a CNN senior legal analyst, SiriusXM host, and adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law. A former federal prosecutor, Coates 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, Laura was an intellectual property litigator with an expertise in First Amendment and media law. A graduate of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, and the University of Minnesota Law School, Coates resides outside of Washington, DC, with her husband and two children.