No Equal Justice : Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System

First published a decade ago, No Equal Justice is the seminal work on race and class-based double standards in criminal justice. Hailed as a 'shocking and necessary book' by The Economist, it has become the standard reference point for anyone trying to understand the fundamental inequalities in the American Legal System. Cole explores police behaviour, jury selection and sentencing and argues that the system fails in terms of equality and, in fact, requires double standards to operate, allowing the privileged to enjoy protection from police power.

David Cole is a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, and a volunteer staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is also legal affairs correspondent for The Nation and a commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” He was named one of the top forty-five public sector lawyers under forty-five by The American Lawyer. In addition to No Equal Justice, he is the author of Terrorism and the Constitution, Enemy Aliens, and, with Jules Lobell, Less Safe, Less Free, all published by The New Press.