Bryan Stevenson's 'The Story Of My Search'

Sanae Hall

Mrs. Grillo

10 CPA:7

5 April 2023

“What I Already Know/What I Wanted to Know” Just Mercy has left me curious as to what the outcome of death row really is. The book and movie have demonstrated different things I’ve become concerned about. The information I am looking to find vs the knowledge I already have on this topic is very educational for people to research about, as well as myself.

I already knew that death row is a prison that holds inmates who are sentenced to death. Most inmates lose their minds during the time they are put on death row. They are given a specific execution date within the time period of sixty days after their statement sentence. Death row prisoners who could be proven innocent also have to wait

We began our research by reading the Just Mercy book and watching the movie. The book provided less information on the story than the movie did. The movie showed more of Bryan Stevenson’s interpretation of Walter McMillian’s case. We got to see his interactions with the courts and jail county to learn more about how death row works, including how it impacts prisoners.

I then began looking at newspaper articles. I discovered a few inmates’ everyday life in prison on death row. In all cases, death row was beyond miserable. Prisoners spend over twenty-three hours in a cell each day, suffering from mental illnesses, and coping with the moral fact that they are soon to die. After reading those articles, Walter McMillian’s case made me think about how some people on death row can be innocent and still suffer the consequences for someone else’s convictive actions.

I read more on mental illnesses that stem from this type of trauma. Google calls it “death row syndrome”. Inmates go through a few stages of depression and psychotic delusions during their time. I had pity for the ones who are innocent and have to experience that. It’s even worse to know that they are shown no remorse once they walk through the door to their

The book and movie have demonstrated different things I’ve become concerned about. The information I am looking to find vs the knowledge I already have on this topic is very educational for people to research about, as well as myself.

I already knew that death row is a prison that holds inmates who are sentenced to death. Most inmates lose their minds during the time they are put on death row. They are given a specific execution date within the time period of sixty days after their statement sentence. Death row prisoners who could be proven innocent also have to wait those amount of days, unless their lawyer is able to justify their case and send them home before their execution date. I needed to know more about HOW innocent people are impacted from death row. I had numerous questions such as: What is a normal day on death row? Can inmates develop mental illnesses while being on death row? How does this affect the people around them and their families? I listed all of the things I was interested in learning about the outcome of prisoners on death row. From my list, I formed my research question: How were people that are proven innocent, impacted from death row? I suddenly found all my answers within my