Examples Of Discrimination In Just Mercy

Revealing the Racial Disparities of the Justice System
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate these differences.”–Audre Lorde. Clear inequality and discrimination within the justice system are revealed through the capital punishment system in America. Stevenson developed this understanding of discrimination and inequality in Just Mercy, a novel. Throughout the novel, Bryan Stevenson sees many mistreated death row inmates facing unfairness and racism in their trials. The racism that these people face has life-changing effects. Mr. Dill, one of the people that Stevenson had met with, eventually gets executed for his murder, but does not receive the fair treatment and help that he needs throughout

Mr. Dill’s execution results from unfair treatment alongside prejudice and racial bias in the court system. M. Dill was executed as a result of capital murder. It was revealed that he was disabled and there was unease about Dill not receiving the proper legal treatment and help. Stevenson states, “He would never have been convicted of capital murder if he had just had the money for a decent lawyer. He would never have been sentenced to death if someone had investigated his past. It all felt tragic. His struggle to form words and his determination to express gratitude reinforced his humanity for me, and it made thinking about his impending execution unbearable.” (Stevenson, 232). This case shows the injustice in the legal system, as Stevenson argues that since Dill had mental health issues, he should have been put into mental health care, not execution. This is a subjective opinion on whether this is fair, but they did not consider it in Mr. Dill’s case. The novel shows that Jimmy Dill suffered from an intellectual disability, experienced sexual and physical abuse as a child, and battled drug addiction. For this reason, Stevenson believed that