Laura Coates

Laura Coates is a CNN Host and Senior Legal Analyst who specializes in the intersection of civil rights and criminal prosecution.

A former federal prosecutor, Coates served as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, as well as a Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, specializing in the enforcement of Voting Rights throughout the United States. As a civil rights attorney, she traveled throughout the United States supervising local and national elections and led investigations into allegations of unconstitutional voting practices.

In private practice, Coates was an intellectual property litigator with an expertise in First Amendment and media law. She is the host of the daily eponymous show on SiriusXM and the bestselling author of "You Have the Right...A Constitutional Guide to Policing the Police."

Coates is a graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the University of Minnesota Law School. She is a Lecturer of Law at George Washington University Law School.