Misjudged

“Karen McKinney is telling an urgent story about reconsidering our own convictions and taking a second look at people we have dismissed as hopeless.”–Kelly Corrigan, New York Times best-selling author of Tell Me More and PBS podcast host

“We all live in prisons of our own making. In Misjudged, Karen McKinney shows what it means to step out of inherited beliefs and into the brave unknown of connection. Her story reminds us that the key to freedom is always in our hands–we just have to choose to use it.”–Dr. Edith Eva Eger, New York Times best-selling author of The Choice: Embrace the Possible

“McKinney writes from the rare intersection of justice and mercy, showing what happens when a prosecutor dares to look past her own certainty and see the human being she once condemned. This is not a story about guilt or innocence; it’s about the courage it takes to question your own righteousness. Raw, riveting, and unflinchingly honest, Misjudged reminds us that forgiveness isn’t a weakness but a radical act of seeing.”–Lara Love Hardin, New York Times best-selling author of The Many Lives of Mama Love, a pick for Oprah’s Book Club

“Raw, biting and deeply moving, McKinney shows in brutally honest detail what happens when we choose compassion over vengeance–and how even the hardest hearts can find forgiveness and redemption. If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on in a prosecutor’s brain–and how brains can change–then this is the book for you.”–Abby Ellin, author of Duped: Double Lives, False Identities, and the Con Man I Almost Married

Karen McKinney is a career prosecutor and former public defender who rose to the highest ranks of the gang unit in Orange County, California. She is also a screenwriter and producer who has developed a pilot script with a Law & Order producer and another with producer partner Gary Hart, former head of Paramount TV. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University, Karen lives with her husband and two children in Orange County, California, where she continues to work in the district attorney’s office.