Comparison Of Just Mercy And The Shawshank Redemption

Not one person, was created to be perfect beings, but children are pure and innocent and their mental and critical thinking skills are not fully developed and strong enough to handle adult prisons. On the other hand, children are most likely to vividly remember delinquent actions they performed whether it was done intentionally in a “heat of the moment” action such as Charlie’s case in Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” or unintentionally due to peer-pressure or self-protection in most juveniles’ case. Moreover, the justice system is hypocritical to their own children, “Protect the young” but places the young in harm’s way. Children in adult prisons are prone to rape, suicide and assault than in juvenile detention centers according to studies on juvenile suicide in adult institutions and youth facilities in the1980’s. The studies indicated that “the suicide rate of juveniles in adult jails is 7.7 times more likely than of juvenile detention centers. In 1989, five times as many youth held in adult prisons answered yes to the question "has anyone attempted to sexually attack or rape you" than those held in juvenile institutions while about 10% of the youth interviewed reported a sexual attack, or rape attempt.(Zeidenberg).Another factor of why children should not be tried as adults is that youths are easily victimized and beaten up by inmates and most likely staff, they are also for example

“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.

Sociology 461 Criminal Justice Systems Edward M. Stern No Heroes, No Villains; by Steven Phillips In the book No Heroes, No Villains the author Steve Phillips describes a story of a single dramatic trial of murder it offers a thoughtful and balanced presentation of the problems besetting our criminal courts, lays bare the mechanics of justice, and explains in graphic detail just what is wrong and right about our criminal justice system.

The main social problem addressed in Just Mercy is the unjust American justice system and the extreme biases and prejudices that plague it. There are numerous examples of this shown throughout the book. The best example of racial bias and prejudice is Walter McMillian’s case because it shows both extreme racial biases and extreme racial prejudices against McMillian because of the color of his skin.

America is supposed to be the land of the free, but in reality does America give freedom to all? Not if your poor, black, or disabled. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, who is a lawyer, writes about the harsh realities of the justice system in the United States. He illustrates his encounter with several prisoners, who were wrongly defended based off of race, disability, and class. The main story follows an innocent man put on death row, Walter McMillian.

"I felt the need to explain to people what Walter had taught me. Walter made me understand why we have to reform a system of criminal justice that continues to treat people better if they are rich and guilty than if they are poor and innocent. A system that denies the poor the legal help they need, that makes wealth and status more important than culpability, must be changed." (Stevenson 313)

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.

In the book Just Mercy, the case of Walter McMillian and the case of Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird have various similarities in the way their trials developed. They were both convicted of a crime against a woman, the white people were certain they were guilty, and their lawyers worked hard to prove their innocence. There is significant information in To Kill a Mockingbird, that you see in the real case of Walter McMillian, that shows there is definitely truth in fiction. These cases reveal the credibility our justice system and how a town can work together to make an innocent person look guilty.

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.

The novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson covers many aspects of the legal system, including Stevenson’s quest to get prisoners who were convicted as adolescents out of adult prison. Through Stevenson’s experiences, he sees first hand experience of children that are sent to adult prisons. Specifically he saw how the prisoners who were convicted as children revert to a very low mental state and often have a great deal of trouble readjusting if they are even remotely capable of doing so. One of these experiences that Bryan Stevenson encountered was with a young fourteen year old named Charlie and the impacts of an adult world in a child’s head. Children should never be pushed into adult prisons or receive adult punishments because of their lack of clear understanding of difficult situations.

In Bryan Stevenson’s novel, Just Mercy, 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 works to explain and provide examples of problems within the justice system, and the urgency to correct these. This being said, throughout a personal reading of the book, one might come to agree with Stevenson's statement, "the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice" (Stevenson 18).

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.

Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, has many themes in his book. One of which is the importance of human life. He goes through many cases of which, in the end, he realizes that every human deserves empathy and mercy and a fair chance at living their lives. Throughout the novel there is one specific case that changes Stevenson’s perspective the most however. This case is the Walter McMillian case that demonstrates the unfairness that was tolerated for death row inmates. Stevenson expresses this theme throughout the book. Some examples are through the McMillian case, the mental patient case, the juvenile case, and his own experience.

Katherine Mary Knight has committed a murder which falls into the most serious category of murder and it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that the murder was premeditated. She used a sharp butcher knife to murder and stabbed him at least 37 times as well as perfectly skinning his whole body. Sometime before she murdered him she made numerous threats to him about his death. After she had murdered him, she stated that she had no recollection of the murder what so ever to the police. She tried to escape her position of crime by trying to blame everything on her mental personality disorder. She not only planned the murder but actually enjoyed the horrific acts which led to death and defilement. After the death of Mr. Price, she indicated cognition, volition, calm and skill and showed no remorse or guilt at all.

After watching the movie The Shawshank Redemption and reading Just Mercy, I was able to see differences as well as similarities between both. Both sources had similar ways of portraying events within each other through a specific point of view. Just Mercy as well as the movie, Shawshank Redemption also showed different ways in which the prisoners (inmates) were being helped out.