This year at Elon University, all first-year students were given a summer reading. The author Bryan Stevenson, a gifted attorney, who founded the Equal Justice Initiative; fights to raise awareness about the injustices in the United States legal and social systems. Just Mercy, his book magnifies his early career, where he fought for people on death row. This book talks about the injustices that happened back in the 80’s and 90’s but, these same injustices by the police are still around today, but justified by law now. Bryan Stevenson had his own encounters with the police like many black men in America today. He was engaged by two white Atlanta SWAT officers while sitting in his car listening to music. The racial discrimination against Black
Introduction The book that I selected is called “Getting Life” by Michael Morton, who is a man that was wrongfully convicted of killing his wife in Texas in 1986. This book takes us from a happy young couple to the day of the murder, through the investigation into his wife’s murder, Michael’s trial and conviction, 25 years in prison, appeals, release from prison, and reintegration into society. One unique fact about this case is that is the first case where the prosecutor in a wrongful conviction case was subsequently convicted of prosecutorial misconduct, stripped of their law license and sentenced to serve time in jail.
At this point, I am half way done with Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. While reading this book, I have made many personal connections and opinions. To give you some background on this book, I will explain a little bit of what I've obtained so far. Just Mercy is a memoir about a lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, who exposes the flaws in the justice system. Many of the flaws that he reveals are cases of racism; where prejudice prevails over evidence.
The book “Simple Justice” that was written by Richard Kluger is one of the examples of the successful use of narrative with the scholar style of writing that is telling readers the story behind Brown v. Board of Education. It is needed to state that the book was firstly published in 1976 and at that period it was one of the most precise and detailed descriptions of the decision-making process of the Supreme Court in Brown. That is why, the work of Richard Kluger is so unique, he was able to tell readers the detailed story of the court and that was helpful in the learning of the history as well as in the understanding of the justice system. It is needed to state the fact that in the book Richard Kluger is pointing out on the fact of schools desegregation. He critiques the politics of the government that allowed the school
If there is one thing that the humans are historically bad at doing it's admitting their own faults. Hubris blinds us from seeing the bigger issues That, I believe, is the sole reason why the world that we live in is unjust. It's full of people who are misusing their power positions like Kim Davis, a disgruntled county clerk. There are also people prosecuted for crimes they never committed just because they are in poverty as Bryan Stevenson teaches us. People are also judged because of their skin color and not by their personalities like Ahmed Mohamed, a freshman apprehended for building clock .
In the book Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson is determined to help those who are treated unfairly in our justice system. He meets those who are treated unfairly because of race, gender, income or mental disabilities. Stevenson uses his law degree to win or receive new trials for the underprivileged. Stevenson believes that race, income, or other factors should not effect a court trial. The same goes for other aspects of life such as a college applications, financial aid, or scholarships.
Wrongful convictions are one of the major problems that the justice system faces. Much worse is that there are people whom the judicial system has sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. A wrongful conviction is a terrible injustice that is magnified when an innocent person spends years in prison or death row. The number of exonerated ex-offenders is steadily rising, however growing awareness of the injustices occur every day in American courts, it helps raise profound doubts about the accuracy and fairness of the criminal justice system. Cheryle (Hayes)
The Justice Project Physical disability is one of the most challenging things that someone can go through in their lifetime one of those people is Matt Barnes who overcomes the challenges of having a physical disability and helps his client through his dedication and courage. The Justice Project is a mystery novel by Michael Betcherman that tells us the story of Matt Barnes, A high school student who is passionate about solving his cases. But when Matt’s client Ray Richardson is charged with murder, he wants to fight for his client's innocents, later on in the book he discovers his courage and determination. This essay will explore how Matt Barnes overcomes some challenges he faces including him having a physical disability and helps his client through his dedication and
Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, is a powerful book that provides you with another perspective of racial injustice. This book features injustices done to young people and innocent people. Some kids as young as middle schoolers have been put behind bars for their entire lives. Being a caucasian male, I have never been the victim of racial and sexual abuse. Learning about our justice system made me sorrowful and outraged.
Bryan Stevenson wrote the book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, in his novel he discusses multiple cases that influenced him into creating what we now know as The Equal Justice Initiative it is a group that has helped create a void in unfair sentencing. Bryan was born in Delaware in 1959, he grew up in a poor neighborhood where he witnessed a division in both social and economic class. The division of classes lead to the start of Stevenson’s journey to inform and make members of the community aware of injustices in our country. There are multiple career paths that he could have chosen that benefited his desire to bring about awareness.
Walter McMillan was guilty of one thing and one thing only: having an affair with a white woman. At the time, this was seen as very scandalous, the Civil Rights Movement had ended but the deeply ingrained racism in the South had not. Because of this, Walter McMillan, known by many as Johnny D., was shunned and mistreated to the point that when a murder he didn’t commit was pinned on him no one thought twice about whether or not he could have done it. The Justice Department handled the case poorly by not fact checking witness testimonies, illegally moving the prisoner to death row without a conviction, intimidating a witness before a trial to convince him to lie, and so much more. One day Walter McMillan and several other prisoners get a visit from an upstart lawyer named Bryan Stevenson, a man who had just started a federally funded program known as the Equal Justice Initiative to help men like Walter.
Throughout a student’s high school Language Arts experience, it is important for them to be exposed to texts that stimulate meaningful discussions and allow them to connect the texts’ themes to their everyday lives. Therefore, incorporating Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson in the tenth grade curriculum would add significant value to students’ education because this novel teaches students to look beyond first impressions and to show empathy for others. The various accounts of criminal cases in Just Mercy explore the harm in relying solely on initial judgements to form opinions on a person or situation. For instance, Walter McMillian, an African American man whose case is the main focus of the novel, was convicted for a crime he did not
Mackenzie Wolfe Mr. Boline AP Language Arts 29 March 2023 America’s Justice System is Broken High influence issues such as abuse of power and greed can change the course of hundreds of lives and impact the way the world treats people. As seen in Just Mercy, written by Brian Stevenson, these issues can be the difference between life, death and a long life of lasting mental health issues. The Justice System of the United States is broken because of the abuse of power and greed that hold high influence in America’s Justice System. Abuse of power is significantly influential in the Justice System. It corrupts officials, changes outcomes of “fair trials”, convicts innocent people and even sometimes is the cause of a wrongful death
In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson concludes “the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice,” and by this he means that when there is no justice, most people will live in poverty, despair, and fear. Despair is the complete loss of all hope, and each of these characters felt that feeling. Bryan Stevenson was stopped and searched by the police, and he was full of fear because one officer had pulled a gun on him. Fear, Police rely on fear to break the law and do as they wish, because they know a majority of people are scared to go against the police. In chapter 3, Walter McMillian was in jail awaiting his trial and eventual execution, this alone drove him into a pit of despair.
Bryan Stevenson knew the perils of injustice and inequality just as well as his clients on death row. He grew up in a poor, racially segregated area in Delaware and his great-grandparents had been slaves. While he was a law student, he had interned working for clients on death row. He realized that some people were treated unfairly in the judicial system and created the Equal Justice Institute where he began to take on prisoners sentenced to death as clients since many death row prisoners had no legal representation of any kind. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson focuses on some of these true stories of injustice, mainly the case of his client, Walter McMillian.
In Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, he writes to illustrate the injustices of the judicial system to its readers. To do so, Stevenson utilizes multiple writing styles that provide variety and helps keep the reader engaged in the topic. Such methods of his include the use of anecdotes from his personal experiences, statistics, and specific facts that apply to cases Stevenson had worked on as well as specific facts that pertain to particular states. The most prominent writing tool that Stevenson included in Just Mercy is the incorporation of anecdotes from cases that he himself had worked on as a nonprofit lawyer defending those who were unrightfully sentenced to die in prison.