Bryan, the protagonist of Bryan Stevenson's novel Just Mercy, is depicted as a well-dressed, bearded black lawyer who is both ambitious and knowledgeable, demonstrating to the reader that Bryan is an amazing lawyer who wants to help save people on death row. Bryan describes himself when he says, "I was a bearded black male, and I was trying to meet the court’s expectations of what a lawyer looks like. " This shows that Bryan takes his job seriously and is willing to please the court and show the court he’ll dress nicely just to help win his case with Walter. Bryan also shows that he has the ambition to help defend condemned people on death row and is willing to do anything to help them win their case when he says that he is "determined to do
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, “Just Mercy”, written by Bryan Stevenson, tells the story of true justice in helping incarcerated people fight for freedom. He develops convincing arguments showing the hidden flaws and inequality in the American criminal justice system. Bryan Stevenson makes his arguments through three appeals, ethos, logos and pathos, using personal experiences, his viewpoint on juvenile sentencing and justice, and his priorities. In chapter 2, Stand, Stevenson shares his personal experiences with the Atlanta Police Department to provide exposure to racial inequality. On a drive home from Gadsden, Alabama, Stevenson gets pulled over by an Atlanta SWAT car: “The other officer was now leaning inside my car and going through my papers.
In his book Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson shows empathy and compassion as he puts a stop to mass incarceration for Juvenile Offenders by providing equality of justice. Stevenson works endlessly, day and night to correct a wrongful conviction of a Death Row inmate, Walter Mcmillian. When he first meets Walter, at the end of the Book, we know that he's innocent. In page 73 of Just Mercy, Stevenson meets Walter’s wife Minnie Belle Mcmillian, and his Daughter, Jackie, as they were waiting patiently for him, after he promised Walter that he’ll meet his family. This shows that Stevenson will even put in the time and effort in order to get to know more about Walter and his family in order to prove he's innocent.
Have you ever needed something so desperately and you still didn’t get it?We learn how the incarcerated people in the book Just Mercy have been denied their medical attention, even though they had pleaded. The book was written by Brian Stevenson, who is a Criminal Defense Lawyer. It reveals the truth of the unfair actions made by the Criminal Justice system. Its inadequacy in medical treatment is certainly a prime contribution to the deaths of many prisoners each year. We learn how some people were denied the very thing they need to survive, their medication they need to help them wake up the next morning.
Mary Kwentus Mr. Singleterry ENGL 2250 22 May 2023 Social Unjustness In Bryan Stevenson’s novel Just Mercy Stevenson gives his first-person accounts of the social justice system in America and marginalized Americans who are unfairly punished. The novel retells the cases of Stevenson. Stevenson fights to end the justice system’s unjustness and racial discrimination. The novel follows Stevenson as he and his company the Equal Justice Initiative work to help prisoners on death row and give them the legal representation they deserve.
The (In)justice System “‘I feel like they done put me on death row, too. What do we tell these children about how to stay out of harm’s way when you can be at your own house, minding your own business, surrounded by your entire family, and they still put some murder on you that you ain’t do and send you to death row?’”(Stevenson 93). In the memoir Just Mercy, we follow the life story of Bryan Stevenson who we see start out as a young Harvard law student and as the novel progresses transforms into a lawyer helping those on death row who do not have any help. He has many experiences where he sees people change, statistics that prove injustice, and where he experiences injustice. All of these are examples of rhetorical strategies, which are
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.
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy exposes several ethical failures that permeate the criminal justice system, reflecting a profound disregard for human dignity and justice. Firstly, the book highlights the systemic racism that unjustly targets minorities (Stevenson, 2014). The disproportionate incarceration of African Americans, despite constituting a small percentage of the population, is a testament to the biased application of laws and policies. The pervasive racial profiling, leading to discriminatory arrests and excessive bail amounts, further perpetuates this injustice. Secondly, Stevenson highlights indigent defendants' lack of adequate legal representation (Stevenson, 2014).
Mercy, a concept describing compassion or forgiveness towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. As a humanitarian, future world leader and citizen of America I’d like to think that the world I live in is a forgiving place where everyone gets a second chance. Unfortunately, in the court of law, this is not always true. By reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson I found that it is very hard to acquire justice and redemption to many civilians who have been incarcerated. This book explores various stories of injustices in the judicial system by incorporating people from different racial groups, socioeconomic background, mental disabilities and more.
“There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy (Stevenson 109) .” This bold statement is one of many as Bryan Stevenson sets the tone for his renowned award winning novel Just Mercy. As a young lawyer from Georgia, built the foundation for his company, SPDC (Southern Prisoners Defense Committee) to help convicts that are on death row or in need a second chance. Bryan Stevenson, a young lawyer from Georgia who fought for justice on the behalf of inmates on death row, showed tremendous intelligence in becoming a successful lawyer, demanding for not backing down in moments of refusal, and was an overall advocate
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.
There are many victims of unfortunate circumstances in the world today, yet some of these results could have been easily avoided. In the novel, Just Mercy, the author Bryan Stevenson addresses many cases in which children under the age of 18 are incarcerated within the adult criminal justice system. By treating children as adults in the criminal justice system their innocence and undeveloped person, become criminalized. These children become dehumanized and only viewed as full-fledged criminals and as a result society offers no chance sympathy towards them. Stevenson argues that children tried as adults have become damaged and traumatized by this system of injustice.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. By Bryan Stevenson. Spiegel & Grau, 2015. Pp. 368.
Holding a Grudge Mercy is something that many people do not express or do not know the meaning of. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has flaws. Judging them every time someone shows that they are human is wrong, instead mercy should be shown. Mercy is giving someone a second chance to redeem themselves.
