Just Mercy Analysis

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.

Glen Loury argues in his essay called “A Nation of Jailer” that the United States is a nation that follows a society that has been affected by racial bias. Loury claims that the people who are targeted by law are racial discriminated. Loury mainly talks about the “poorly educated black and Hispanic men who reside in large numbers in our great urban centers.” (1) Loury has made a clear and strong point. Loury shows his points in three main ways. Loury emphasizes his points by using ethos, logos, and pathos. Loury uses many well-known characters in his writing, and Loury uses strong phrases that impact the reader emotionally and questions to make sure the reader has some sort of connection to Loury’s evidence. Furthermore, Loury gives a lot

“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.

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.

Walter McMillian, a man falsely convicted for a crime, experienced an immense amount of injustices originally fueled from his race and societal status.

The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

After rejecting conservatives’ idea that criminal behaviors are caused by black culture, Alexander said that poverty and inequality are the “root causes” of crimes. She then includes a quote from Lyndon Johnson, “there is something mighty wrong when a candidate for the highest office bemoans violence in the streets but votes against the war on poverty, votes against the civil rights act and votes against major educational bills that come before him as a legislator” (45). Alexander uses this quote to criticize politicians who purport that they want to reinstall “law and order” but vote against bills that fight the antecedents of crimes. This may spark a series of questions in the reader, such as “if their motive is really to reinstall “law and order,” why aren’t trying to eliminate the origin of crimes? Why are they ignoring them instead? Alexander is insinuating that these politicians want minorities in prison, where they can control them, supporting her argument that the government always tries to control minorities. This also supports her argument that the “war on drug” and “law and order” movements represent the new form control system in the United States.

In a court system that is ran predominantly by the white middle to upper class, Steve knows he is an outsider” (2). Steve introduces these clues to us suggesting that he is an innocent young man that is suffering from the injustices of the judicial system. We begin to feel sorry for him and angry with the system.

7) In criminological theories, we saw how police activity is largely geared towards minor visible crimes committed by individuals from the lower stratums of society as oppose to “white collar crimes” committed by those of higher stratums (Dubé, CRM 3701, 2011). Abolitionists argue that by severely punishing some of the poor in order to deter society from committing crimes; we are only further contributing to the inequalities in today’s society.

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.

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.

The subject of study that personally “hit me the most” during this course would have been “Inequality of the Criminal Justice System.” Besides the media’s ambitious exploitation of the rich and powerful individuals who through social powers have the ability to escape justice, the less fortunate also have displayed the same ability in several circumstances. My cousin was driving home from our family reunion last spring, with her two children. On their way home, they were sideswiped by a drunk driver, incidentally, who was driving without a license (from a previous DUI) and insurance. As a matter of fact, it turned out that this individual’s license was suspended only 3 months prior to this

How does poverty effect the justice system? The justice system is a way for people to get help for when they are in trouble but that is not always the truth. There are people out there being abused by the justice system and most of the people are in poverty. While this problem is being resolved, it will take time for it to be fixed. People all over the world are putting all of their effort into helping the poor overcome their difficulties. There is one man in particular that stands out to from everyone else and his name is Bryan Stephenson. His past experiences will help to prove how poverty and justice relate to each other. The discussion regarding poverty and the justice system will cover how does poverty affect justice? How poverty does or does not affect justice. Are there any examples of poverty and justice existing at the same time.