Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve written about, taught, and litigated wrongful conviction cases for decades. As Director and Co-Founder of the California Innocence Project, I was able to walk 40 innocent people out of prison. I’m proud to have been part of a small group of lawyers who started innocence organizations in the 1990s. That small group has now turned into a global movement. Free the innocents! 


I wrote...

You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent

By Justin Brooks,

Book cover of You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent

What is my book about?

Putting readers at the defense table, this book forces us to consider how any of us might be swept up…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption

Justin Brooks Why did I love this book?

This book documents the wrongful conviction of Ronald Cotton while simultaneously relating the story of Jennifer Thompson, a victim of the brutal rape Cotton was convicted of.

I love this book because it’s co-authored by Cotton and Thompson and shows both sides of the damage of wrongful convictions: the wrongfully convicted person who goes to prison for a crime he did not commit and the victim who is denied closure. Cotton’s suffering is obvious and brutal, as he writes about the pain he went through being arrested, wrongfully identified, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison plus 54 years.

Thompson’s suffering continues many years after the rape as she contends with the faulty identification procedures that caused the misidentification of Cotton. 

By Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, Ronald Cotton, Erin Torneo

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Picking Cotton as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times best selling true story of an unlikely friendship forged between a woman and the man she incorrectly identified as her rapist and sent to prison for 11 years.

Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. She was able to escape, and eventually positively identified Ronald Cotton as her attacker. Ronald insisted that she was mistaken-- but Jennifer's positive identification was the compelling evidence that put him behind bars.

After eleven years, Ronald was allowed to take a DNA test that proved his innocence. He was released,…


Book cover of Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir

Justin Brooks Why did I love this book?

This book broke my heart. A college student goes for an exciting semester in Italy and has to deal with the tragic murder of her roommate, her own wrongful arrest for the crime, an internationally covered trial where she is portrayed as a monster, and more than four years in prison for a crime she did not commit.

I love this book because it not only tells the story of a wrongful conviction but is also the best book I have read about the prison experience that women around the world go through. It is beautifully written and tough to put down.

By Amanda Knox,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Waiting to Be Heard as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As seen in the Nextflix documentary Amanda Knox, in March 2015, the Supreme Court of Italy exonerated Amanda Knox, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Waiting To Be Heard. In an afterward to this newly issued paperback edition, Amanda updates readers on her life since 2011, introduces the individuals who helped her persevere as her case continued through the Italian courts, and shares her plans for helping others who have also been wrongfully convicted.

In November 2007, 20 year-old Amanda Knox had only been studying in Perugia, Italy, for a few weeks when her friend and roommate, British…


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Book cover of The Alchemy Fire Murder: a Mary Wandwalker Mystery

The Alchemy Fire Murder By Susan Rowland,

A traditional mystery with a touch of cozy, The Alchemy Fire Murder is for those who like feisty women sleuths, Oxford Colleges, alchemy, strong characters, and real concerns like trafficking, wildfires, racism, and climate change. This book especially works for those fascinated by myth and witches in history. Read for…

Book cover of Blind Injustice: A Former Prosecutor Exposes the Psychology and Politics of Wrongful Convictions

Justin Brooks Why did I love this book?

This book is unique in the world of wrongful conviction books because it is written by a former prosecutor. Mark Godsey gives readers an inside view of how innocence often gives way to winning trial records and promotions based on successful prosecutions in the competitive world of prosecutions. 

Godsey tells this story from the perspective of not just a former prosecutor but also the current Director of one of the most successful innocence organizations in the world, where he has exonerated dozens of innocent people. The stories of his clients and his career transition are insightful and heartbreaking. 

By Mark Godsey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Blind Injustice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this unprecedented view from the trenches, prosecutor turned champion for the innocent Mark Godsey takes us inside the frailties of the human mind as they unfold in real-world wrongful convictions. Drawing upon shocking, yet true, stories from his own career, Godsey shares how innate psychological flaws and the "tough on crime" political environment experienced by judges, police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and juries can cause investigations to go awry, leading to the convictions of innocent people. Each chapter explores a distinct psychological human weakness inherent in the criminal justice system-confirmation bias, memory malleability, credibility-determining errors, tunnel vision, cognitive dissonance, bureaucratic…


Book cover of What Set Me Free: A True Story of Wrongful Conviction, a Dream Deferred, and a Man Redeemed

Justin Brooks Why did I love this book?

Brian Banks was one of the best high school football players in the country when he was wrongfully arrested at the age of 16 years old for raping a classmate. He went to prison, and a decade later, his accuser admitted it never happened. I love this book because it gives a first-person view of what a child goes through when they are eaten alive by the criminal legal system.   

It is also a great book about hope and determination. Brian never gives up on his dreams and ultimately lives them on an NFL field after more than a decade-long ordeal. This book has something for everyone. 

By Brian Banks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What Set Me Free as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The story that inspired the film Brian Banks*

Discover the unforgettable and inspiring true story of a young man who was wrongfully convicted as a teenager and imprisoned for more than five years, only to emerge with his spirit unbroken and determined to achieve his dream of playing in the NFL.

At age sixteen, Brian Banks was a nationally recruited All-American Football player, ranked eleventh in the nation as a linebacker. Before his seventeenth birthday, he was in jail, awaiting trial for a heinous crime he did not commit.

Although Brian was innocent, his attorney advised him that as a…


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Book cover of The Emerald Necklace

The Emerald Necklace By Linda Rosen,

It’s 1969. Women are fighting for equality. Rosalee, an insecure sculptor, and Fran, a best-selling novelist, have their issues. Will their bitter envy of each other and long-held secrets destroy their tenuous friendship? Or will Jill, Rosalee’s granddaughter, and the story behind her emerald necklace bind them together?

A multi-generational…

Book cover of It Happened to Audrey: A Terrifying Journey From Loving Mom to Accused Baby Killer

Justin Brooks Why did I love this book?

I love this book because it is incredibly educational about the problem of wrongful convictions in baby death cases, but at the same time, that education is wrapped around the ordeal of a young woman caught up in a wrongful conviction.

I have litigated baby death cases, and I know the circle of heartbreak around them. Audrey Edmunds captures that heartbreak as we follow her on her journey from a daycare provider on a normal day to prison for 11 years to freedom. 

By Jill Wellington, Audrey Edmunds,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked It Happened to Audrey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Audrey Edmunds was a happily married young mother of two with a baby on the way; the neighborhood soccer mom in a small Wisconsin town providing casual childcare when the unthinkable happened. An infant died in her care at the same time the unknown science of Shaken Baby Syndrome hit the media. Swept up in a media frenzy, Edmunds was accused of killing the child through SBS. She was stripped from her children and husband and sent to prison where she would fight for freedom 13 years before she was finally exonerated after updated science showed her innocence. Audrey was…


Explore my book 😀

You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent

By Justin Brooks,

Book cover of You Might Go to Prison, Even Though You're Innocent

What is my book about?

Putting readers at the defense table, this book forces us to consider how any of us might be swept up in the criminal legal system and end up in prison because we hired a bad lawyer, bear a slight resemblance to someone else in the world, or are not good with awkward silence.

The stories of Brooks's cases and clients paint the picture of a broken justice system, one where innocence is no protection from incarceration or even the death penalty. Simultaneously relatable and disturbing, my book is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand how injustice is served by our system.

Book cover of Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption
Book cover of Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir
Book cover of Blind Injustice: A Former Prosecutor Exposes the Psychology and Politics of Wrongful Convictions

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