Justice And Justice In 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

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

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.

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

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.

One is released from these obligations if fulfilling them is sufficiently dangerous or costly. Even in those cases where it is dangerous or costly, Shelby argues, one is still obliged to avoid worsening the injustice of societal institutions and to avoid making a just society harder to achieve (Dark Ghetto, page 154). As such, the ghetto poor, who would often have to sacrifice greatly in order to bring about just institutions, can still be rightly criticized for any action or attitude that is contrary to these two duties of avoidance. Some instances of crime do, in fact, exacerbate the injustices of the system by worsening society’s view of the ghetto poor, inciting resentment from those outside the ghettos,

"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)

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.

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.

Who knew that America thrives off of one of the seven deadly sins? No, it’s not gluttony, but pride. Selfish pride in our country and ourselves has steered our nation onto a path of corruption. It has persuaded almost every person to care more for themselves than their neighbour, not to mention a stranger. In Bryan Stevenson’s novel, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Americans’ lack of care or concern for others is unveiled through our mistreatment of the condemned. Our selfishness has bled into our laws and beliefs, which has caused malpractice in and out of the courtroom.

The person who has been accused of a crime has the right to have a quick and speedy trial. This sentence doesn’t mean that the accused person’s trial will be over within a week. This line means that the state can’t make the person be held in jail for a very long time, for example 10 years, while they for their trial. This would be extremely unfair to everyone who is innocent. The person who is accused also has the right to get a public trial. The state can’t lock a person up and ask questions about the crime that has been committed. This process must be seen by the public so that it more fair to the jailed person.

While reading “Justice: Where Do You Stand?” by Jeremy Greenberg, I really understood with what he was stating, because most people don’t really know what justice is. People do not know what it is, but do things that are harsh and say it’s justice. When reading the essay I got to learn more about justice and what it is meant to do, but then I asked myself I do not usually see this type of justice, because people have changed it overtime. People have changed the true meaning of justice, they have combined justice with vengeance and retribution. Jeremey believes if we as a people put aside vengeance and retribution, replace them with kindness and respect to one another; it’ll bring fairness and equality to everyone. Making justice with this type

Jeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justice education program at American University in Washington, D.C. He drew heavily from what he had learned from his colleagues at that university. Reiman is the William Fraser McDowell Professor of Philosophy at American University, where he has taught since 1970. He has written numerous books on political