Justin L. Brooks is a lawyer and writer based in Cambridge, MA. With research interests at the nexus of Black political thought and critical theories of law, his work seeks to unsettle the rational consensus and ideal theory that underwrites liberal political philosophy by insisting that racial domination is a structural, not episodic, feature of democratic life. Beyond an over-reliance on liberal democratic idealism, Justin contends that democratic life ought to be illuminated by an ethic of hope that is grounded in a moral and political orientation based on struggle and solidarity. Presently, he's conducting research on the political thought of a former civil rights attorney and legal scholar at Harvard Law School.

Justin won the 2025 Christian Bay Award by the American Political Science Association for his first academic publication on race, law, and political theory. His public writing has appeared in The Appeal, American Prospect, Truthout, and Slate. He was featured in Exposing Parchman, a documentary film exploring ongoing efforts to reform Mississippi's carceral institutions that appeared on A&E Network in 2023. 

Justin earned his B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from Morehouse College, J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and A.M. in Government (Political Philosophy) from Harvard University.