Analysis Of Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

In the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson, the author is a lawyer and founder of the Equal Injustice Initiative who helps and defends those that are in desperate needs. Stevenson tells different stories of different cases that he had through the course of his professional career. One of the most heartbreaking stories that Stevenson shares on his books is about a boy named Charlie. Charlie is a fourteen years old who murdered his stepfather because he was abusive with his mom and left her unconscious on the floor. Charlie was sentenced to an adult prison because his stepfather was an ex-police officer. When Steven heard about Charlie’s case he ran to the prison to go see him and the first thing that Charlie tells Stevenson is how every night he would get sexually abused in prison by so many men ,and how they would do really awful things to him. “Florida is one of a few states that allows the prosecutor to decide to charge a child in adult court for certain crimes and has no minimum age for trying a child as an adult.”(Stevenson). Charlie’s case is not an unusual one. There are hundreds of prisoners currently in US prisons who are suffering ridiculous prison sentences while other prisoners with more violent, heinous, and terrible crimes have been sentenced to lesser time in jail or are already out. In order to understand why this is still a problem, it’s important to first understand the current issues facing prisons today and what effects come from these issues. Then

Bryan Stevenson was a lawyer based out of Montgomery, Alabama. He helped many of these people get an honest, fair sentence. Through the publication of his book, he has educated many on the reality of our prison systems in America. He shares his firsthand accounts of children being charged as adults, innocent men being charged for crimes they had clearly not had any involvement with, and women living in poverty being charged with murder for burying their stillborn children. All of these cases had one thing in common: poverty.

In the United States, there are millions of people that are in jail cells for crimes they have committed. One of the goals of prison is to provide justice for the victim’s crimes but in our prison system, this is not the case. These people face harsh punishments that only cause worse actions in the future. The theme of justice and punishment is explored by Truman Capote in the book In Cold Blood. The two criminals, Dick and Perry, are challenged by society on if they should be imprisoned or if they should be free. In Capote’s work, the use of syntax, diction, and a variety of details portray the current system of punishment as cruel and ineffective in providing justice.

“Just mercy” written by Bryan Stevenson is a story about “justice and redemption”(title). Bryan Stevenson tells the story about Walter McMillian a convicted murder. McMillian was unjustly charged for the murder of Ronda Morrison by Ralph Myers even though there was clear evidence that McMillian did not commit this murder. McMillian’s story proves the inequities in the American justice system, and Stevenson proves the faults in the system by telling McMillian’s story. “Proximity has taught me some basic and humbling truths, including this vital lesson: each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done”(17). When we judge people based on their person not the facts innocent people can be charged for crimes that they never committed, and that is where are justice system is unjust.

Stevenson works hard to free this man and many other men and women after so many years of their lives were spent in prison. Stevenson presents several concrete facts to expose the truth of the United States justice system. Stevenson effectively uses logos in the book by proving Walter McMillian’s

In the novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, it is extremely apparent that there is a link between poverty, wealth, injustice, and justice. This book incorporates a strong theme of poverty and how it relates to justice, as well as injustice. Furthermore, it very apparently works to explain and provide examples of problems within the justice system, and the urgency that these be corrected. One major problem being poverty in relation to obtaining justice. This being said, throughout my personal reading of the book, I have come to agree with Stevenson's statement, "the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice" (Stevenson 18).

The book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, and the film “Shawshank Redemption” both contain similarities and differences in reference to the justice system. Both the book and the film have characters in them which go through certain situations. Some of the similarities and differences being shown have to do with hope, industrialization, and how people are being treated by guards.

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a story of innocents sentenced to death row (2015). As an attorney at law, he sheds light on the fraudulent Criminal Justice System with the corruption of cops and prison guards, bribed witnesses, and paid off judges. Written in first person, Stevenson’s (2015) account depicts 50 years of debasement of the Criminal Justice System. Telling the accounts of corruption in first person and using dialogue that included the actual victims conversations allowed his readers to be invested in the story. His vocabulary and the stories used, made the reader realize that corruption takes place in the United States Criminal Justice System both in history and continues through today.

Through every hero’s life, there comes many injustices towards him/her not only because they’re trying to make a difference but also due to their appearance, ideas, and their ambition for justice. Stevenson’s first run in with injustice was a night while was just sitting in his car, being pointed at with a gun with a white male in control of his life. As stated we get a point of view of how Stevenson felt due to this particular incident, “What I replayed the whole incident in my mind, what bothered me most was the mount when the officer drew his weapon and I thought about running” (42). When proceeding with a case, Stevenson had to go visit a felon, but when trying to enter a while male correctional officer that owned a truck with many disgraceful bumper stickers stopped him in his tracks. This man filled with tattoos with no source of empathy or sympathy initiates a confrontation with Stevenson due to the power he is given. Although Stevenson came to visit many times, this guard was new to him stating, “You’re going to go into that bathroom and take everything off it you expect to get into my prison”

Just Mercy was written in 2014 by Stevenson Bryan. This story takes place in Montgomery Alabama. This story is about the broken system of justice. How people are judged unfairly even in the supreme Court. Bryan Stevenson primarily focuses on death penalty cases and juveniles sentenced to life or death. He provides relief for those incarcerated also, he understands the need to fix this criminal justice system by focusing on poverty, and racial disparities. Stevenson chooses cases that did not receive justice. This book discusses the prison life and how they are treated. It also decides about the different cases and how each case has one theory. It provides additional insight into the rush to incarcerate for life people as young teenagers, putting them in an adult prison. Where they are certain to suffer from sexual, mentally and physical abuse.

Stevenson becomes largely aware of all of the injustices, specifically all the racial injustices that occur within the prisons and specifically within death row. This injustice that occurs within death row is saddening to observe, especially when it comes down to ending one’s life. Stevenson reminds his audience that everyone makes mistakes and deserves mercy because no one is perfect, however every life has value. His most prevailing case of this is the Walter McMillian case. At this time in 1980s, Alabama has the fastest growing prison population. Stevenson therefore spends much of his time in Alabama for the defense of McMillian as he is accused of murder and an alleged drug lord and rapist. With the defense of Walter’s community on his side along with his connection with EJI (Equal Justice Initiative), Stevenson was determined to

In the book Just Mercy: A story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, there are several topics discussed regarding the American Justice system. One of those many topics discussed is regarding how a person’s race, social status and income, may influence the outcome of a court trail. In present day America, many years after the era of Jim crow and segregation the Justice system still seems to be more lenient towards white Americans, especially those with high income and a good standing in society. The American justice system has become unjust in the trials deemed to be fair, due to an evident prejudice against minorities, their social status and whether or not they receive a well off or poor income.

After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests.

Stevenson will reference other people and describes the crimes they had committed with the sentence they were given. These cases were, explained through Stevenson, examples of how our legal system holds corrupt individuals of that profession as well as the use of improper sentencing to those wrongfully convicted of the crimes they have and or haven’t done. Throughout the book we can see what Stevenson endures within his work life and social life. He encountered a confrontation with white police officers which then shined light on how the African American race were being treated based off their race which correlated to a specific stereotype. As an audience, we were left in the end with an understanding of how the McMillian case impacted Bryan Stevenson for the better and the worst.

Dr. Seuss’ children’s books have given insight of good versus bad both during his life and long after. A famous quote in Horton Hears a Who reads, “A person’s a person, no matter how small”. No matter what situation this is applied to, it means that everyone has value; everyone should be treated as valuable. As the industry of private prisons rises, communities find themselves asking the moral question: is it right for a man to make profit off another man’s downfall? Although intriguing, it is not the right question to ask. Successful prisons are not defined by statistics at the end of a fiscal year, but by the quality of the prison. Taxpayers pay for criminals to be incarcerated for the safety of the community, but ideally prison would not