Forum from the Archives: Laura Coates on How the Pursuit of Justice Can Create Injustice

“The pursuit of justice creates injustice,” writes CNN Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates in her new book, “Just Pursuit.” Coates began her career as a federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. with optimism. She had come from the Department of Justice where she had worked for both the Bush and Obama Administrations enforcing voting rights. In that role, she found herself being welcomed in Black communities as a hero ensuring votes would be counted. But as a prosecutor, that same community viewed her as working for the wrong side. And, after witnessing justice in action, Coates herself became distrustful of the very system in which she was a decision maker. We’ll talk to Coates about her book, the state of voting rights, and the difficult balancing act of being a Black woman, wife, and mother seeking to uphold the law and retain her humanity.

This episode originally aired on Feb. 8. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices