About the Book
Doing Right
From Prosecutor to Reformer: A Journey Through Crime, Corruption, Complacency, and Change
From Prosecutor to Reformer: A Journey Through Crime, Corruption, Complacency, and Change
From the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to the front lines of public accountability, Jeff Schlanger's Doing Right is the story of one man's journey through crime, corruption, institutional failure, and the hard discipline of conscience.
As a young prosecutor in New York, Schlanger entered a world defined by violence, loyalty, fear, and power. He handled major cases, confronted organized crime, and worked in the charged atmosphere of consequential criminal investigations. But his career did not stop at the courtroom. Over time, it carried him into private investigation, crisis response, police oversight, and reform work, where the stakes remained high but the questions grew harder.
Doing Right is more than a memoir of cases and institutions. It is an insider's account of what it means to pursue justice inside systems that are often flawed, political, complacent, or broken. Moving from formative years and family life to mob prosecutions, public crises, and later efforts to improve policing and government accountability, Schlanger reflects on the challenge that defined his life's work: not simply winning, not simply surviving, but doing right.
For readers drawn to true crime, organized-crime history, courtroom drama, and powerful memoirs of public service, Doing Right offers a rare combination of firsthand access, historical perspective, and moral clarity.
Major prosecutions in Manhattan including the Westies and John Gotti — from inside the D.A.'s Office.
What high-stakes criminal prosecution actually looks like — the pressure, the judgment calls, the consequences.
Oversight of the NYPD and LAPD — the political realities of trying to change institutions from the inside.
How public institutions respond — or fail to respond — when confronted with corruption and complacency.
The personal cost of maintaining principle when power, loyalty, and institutional pressure push back.
A front-row account of New York's most consequential decades in crime, justice, and public safety.
“Jeff Schlanger has spent a career confronting crime, public safety, and institutional accountability at the highest levels. I have had the good fortune to work with him on various engagements for over 30 years, including a seven year period when I was Chief of the LAPD charged with implementing the largest police Federal Consent decree in history. Jeff was the second in command of that Federal monitorship throughout the life of and ultimate success of that decree. Doing Right is a thoughtful and important memoir about leadership, reform, service and the challenge of doing right when the stakes are the highest.”
“I have known Jeff Schlanger for decades, beginning with our time together in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Rackets Bureau. Over the years, I have come to rely not only on his intelligence and judgment, but also on his integrity, steadiness, and deep sense of purpose. Doing Right is a book that reflects Jeff Schlanger precisely — measured in its judgments, honest about difficulty, and unwavering in its sense of what public service demands. I recommend it without reservation to anyone who cares about justice, institutions, and the people who try to make them work.”
“I met Jeff Schlanger on our first day in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 1978, and from that day forward I had a front-row seat to the intelligence, integrity, and determination he brought to every challenge. Over the decades, we worked together on some of the most significant matters of our careers, confronting violent crime, organized crime, institutional failure, and the hard realities of public service. Doing Right draws on a career very few people have had. It is an honest, clear-eyed account of what it means to pursue justice from the inside — and a serious reflection on why it matters.”
“Doing Right is the remarkable story of Jeff Schlanger’s career as a top Manhattan prosecutor and his lifelong pursuit of truth, fairness, and justice. I had the privilege of working alongside him at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for many years, watching him tackle some of the toughest cases—from organized crime and the violent Westies to heartbreaking murders. The book reveals a man who never stopped asking the hard questions, and never stopped answering them with honesty.”
“Jeff Schlanger epitomizes doing what is right. He combatted racketeers and prosecuted organized crime. He helped make public institutions more accountable to those they served. His memoir, Doing Right, captures those struggles in a gripping way. It is a compelling memoir of a reformer who truly understands both law and justice.”
Publishing April 30, 2026
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