New Books About Black Women on the Bench

Black History Month is one of the twelve best months to see new books about impressive Black leaders. These two just came in:

LaDoris H. Cordell, Her Honor: My Life on the Bench . . . What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It (2021) (print)

Judge Cordell, the first African American woman to sit on the Superior Court of Northern California, knows firsthand how prejudice has permeated our legal system. And yet, she believes in the system. From ending school segregation to legalizing same-sex marriage, its progress relies on legal professionals and jurors who strive to make the imperfect system as fair as possible. Cordell takes you into her chambers where she haggles with prosecutors and defense attorneys and into the courtroom during jury selection and sentencing hearings. She uses real cases to highlight how judges make difficult decisions, all the while facing outside pressures from the media, law enforcement, lobbyists, and the friends and families of the people involved.--Provided by publisher.

 

Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality (2022) (ebook)

See  Karen Grigsby Bates, The Life of a 'Civil Rights Queen', NPR (Feb. 3, 2022)