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. Doing Right is a thoughtful and important memoir about leadership, reform, and the challenge of doing right when the stakes are highest."
"Doing Right is a compelling reflection on a remarkable career that carried Jeff Schlanger from major organized-crime prosecutions to the larger questions of public integrity and reform. It is a serious and thoughtful memoir about conscience, judgment, and what justice requires."
"Jeff Schlanger lived much of the New York story from the inside — through organized crime, public institutions under pressure, and the struggle to make them better. Doing Right is a compelling memoir of crime, power, and reform."
Publishing April 30, 2026
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