'Corruption In Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy'

Have you ever been accused and blamed for something you did not do? In Bryan Stevenson's book, Just Mercy, he reveals the corruption behind Alabama's criminal system. The stories of each character show how prejudice, bias, and abuse of power may harm one's life. The book mainly focused on Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully convicted of murder in Monroeville, Alabama. He had been imprisoned for more than 6 years by all the officers who were seeking a conviction. Stevenson uses individual stories and dialogue to reveal that corruption can lead to wrongful convictions and systemic inequality, as officials are vulnerable to biases and pressure that make them target innocent people and ignore proof of innocence to gain a conviction.

According to Stevenson, Monroe County Sheriff Tom Tate did not have much law enforcement experience. Now, four months into his term as sheriff, he faces a seemingly unsolvable murder and intense public pressure. But there was no evidence against Mr. McMillian—no evidence except that he was an African American man involved in an adulterous interracial affair which meant he was reckless and possibly dangerous, even if he had no prior criminal history and a good reputation. Maybe that was enough evidence. (30–31) We can tell how ridiculous and senseless it is that the local officers charged McMillian without any evidence. This raises the question of why they chose to do so. Stevenson’s use of “did not have much law enforcement experience” shows how Sheriff Tom Tate’s inexperience may have caused his judgment to be influenced by the misconceptions he held. Despite the lack of evidence and the fact that Walter McMillian “had no prior criminal history and a good reputation," Tate’s decision to arrest McMillian could have been influenced by the local community’s urgency to arrest the murderer and bias against African Americans, resulting in a wrongful conviction based on race and