Alec Karakatsanis
After beginning his career representing people accused of crimes who could not afford an attorney, Alec Karakatsanis founded the Civil Rights Corps, an organization that challenges systemic injustices in the U.S. legal system. In the last decade, the organization’s work has freed hundreds of thousands of people from illegal confinement in jail cells, reunited hundreds of thousands of families, returned tens of millions of dollars to marginalized communities, and advanced inspiring alternatives to punishment as a means of preventing and addressing social harm. He was named the 2016 Trial Lawyer of the Year by Public Justice for designing and litigating landmark constitutional challenges to cash bail and modern debtors’ prison practices across the United States. The author of Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System and Copaganda (both from The New Press), he lives in Washington, DC, with a community of wonderful friends, family, weird paintings, a garden, and his rock collection.
Books written by this author
News & Reviews
For organizers, classrooms, book clubs, and other group discussions, check out the Copaganda Reading and Discussion Guide.
Watch an interview with Alec Karakatsanis on The Daily Show about how the media perpetuates copaganda.
Read an interview with Alec Karakatsanis about copaganda and policing in Teen Vogue.
Read a review of Copaganda in The New Republic.
Read a review of Usual Cruelty in Slate.
