Felony Review: Tales of True Crime and Corruption in Chicago

by Randy Barnett

Ever wonder what it’s really like to be a criminal prosecutor in a city like Chicago? Felony Review is a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the years Randy Barnett spent as a young prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office during the late 1970s and early 1980s—an era of violent crime and widespread corruption in the criminal courts of Chicago.

With firsthand immediacy and sharp insight, Barnett recounts the murder investigations, grisly police station confessions, courtroom tactics, and moral dilemmas he faced while rising through the ranks from chaotic misdemeanor courts, to the city’s pioneering Felony Review Unit, to the felony trial courts. Along the way, he reflects on why criminals confess to the police; how to maintain your integrity while working within a corrupt system; and why the exclusionary rule, which bars illegally obtained evidence from being used in court, was a good thing but should be replaced.  

A bracing true-crime narrative told by a prosecutor who went on to become one of the country’s leading legal thinkers, Felony Review brings to life the gritty realities of big-city justice—and shows why being a real prosecutor is better than TV. It is a book for lovers of true crime stories, for lawyers, and for anyone who aspires to be a courtroom lawyer.

240 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication March 17, 2026