Bryan Stevenson's Injustice On Death Row

Working closely with people placed on death row, incarcerated children and many others; Bryan Stevenson is able to provide some clarity as to how unjust the criminal justice system truly is. Mr. Stevenson graduated from Harvard University Law School and is currently a Professor of Law at the New York University of Law. He is the founder and Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative, with the help of his team he has been able to successfully “relief or release over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row.” As well as establishing “life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are constitutional” through various cases handled by the United States Supreme Court. The cruelest of acts are those committed under the false

Bryan Stevenson mentions how he learned the power of identity not through his career, but through his grandmother. He then moves on to a narrative and mentions how he promised three things to his grandmother, “the first thing…is that you’ll always love your mom…the second thing…you’ll always do the right thing even when the right thing is hard…the third thing…you’ll never drink.” The first two promises are used to tie in the information he is trying to get across to the audience. His final promise was included as a source of humor; a contrast to the difficult topics discussed. Stevenson informs his audience of the criminal justice system in the United States, and how in many aspects it is flawed. It is an important issue to be discussed. At this moment it may not directly affect everyone, currently a large percentage of those affected are people in poverty or men of color; but the number of incarcerations has greatly increased over the past “40 years” and may continue to increase in the long run affecting many. Stevenson is trying to raise awareness, informing his audience about the justice system today and how it favors those who are “rich and guilty [rather] than if you’re poor and innocent.” He is trying to raise awareness as to how punishment in the criminal system does not stop at a certain age, and how the death penalty “in America is defined by error.” Through his experiences and efforts he has found a need to bring public awareness as to how unjust the United States criminal system is. The identity a nation has and portrays to others has great importance. Stevenson understands how as a nation it is difficult to talk about the problems it faces, both past and