Laura Coates is an American attorney and legal analyst for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. Since 2017, she has hosted a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

show, ''The Laura Coates Show'', on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

's Urban View. In January 2021, ''The Laura Coates Show'' moved to SiriusXM's POTUS.

Education

Coates graduated with a B.A. from the

Princeton School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

in 2001 after completing a 122-page-long senior thesis, titled "The Legacy of Southern Redemption: An Examination of Felon Disenfranchisement Policy," under the supervision of Russ Nieli. In 2005, she received her J.D. from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent L ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Legal career

Coates began her legal career in Minnesota working as an associate attorney at the firm of

Faegre & Benson Faegre & Benson LLP is a predecessor to the firm Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, which resulted after the firm merged in 2012 with Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels LLP. Even prior to the merger, Faegre & Benson was the largest law firm in Minne ...

. She left Faegre to become an associate at the New York City law firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman. She moved from private practice to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

as a federal prosecutor. She was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Bush and Obama administrations, specializing in the enforcement of voting rights throughout the country. She was also an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, prosecuting violent felony offenses, including drug trafficking, armed offenses, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. She is not currently a practicing attorney and is on inactive status with the Office of Lawyer Registration at the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court wa ...

Television

In May 2016, she joined

as a legal analyst and is currently a CNN senior legal analyst. In 2019, Coates hosted two TV documentaries on the Oxygen Network. The first, ''Th
Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins
', follows Coates as she investigates the disappearance of 15-year-old twins in Augusta, Georgia. She also hosted the mini-series documentary
Murder and Justice: The Case of Martha Moxley
', investigating the death of 15-year-old Martha Moxley in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Publications

Coates has written features and offering research to major publications, such as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

''. Her first book, published in January 2016, was a legal guide entitled, ''You have the Right: A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police''. Coates' second book,
Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor's Fight for Fairness
', was released in January 2022. It is about her experience as a black female federal prosecutor at the US Department of Justice.

Teaching

Coates is an adjunct law professor at the

George Washington University School of Law The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of co ...

and routinely speaks across the country on civil rights, social justice, economic empowerment and other topics.

Personal life

Born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, Coates resides in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

with her husband and two children. In July 2018, Coates was suggested by ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'' host

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian-American game show host and television personality. He is best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 season ...

as a possible replacement once his contract was completed.

References

External links

Laura Coates
biography at CNN * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Laura American broadcast news analysts African-American television personalities African-American women lawyers American television news anchors African-American lawyers American talk radio hosts Living people American women television journalists Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni University of Minnesota Law School alumni CNN people 1980 births 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers