Justice And Justice In Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy written by Bryan Stevenson, he had a decade long career as a legal advocate for marginalizing people who have been either falsely convicted or harshly sentenced. Even though the book contains profiles of many different people, the central storyline that the relationship has between Stevenson, the organization he founded and Walter McMillian, a black man that was wrongfully accused of murder and was sentenced to death in Alabama in the late 1980’s. In the book, Stevenson provides a historical context, as well as his own moral and philosophical reflections on the American criminal justice and prison systems. Ultimately he argues that the society should choose empathy and mercy over the condemnation and punishment.
As born into a poor

Throughout the book, Stevenson focuses on the case of Walter McMillian. McMillian was a successful black businessman who grew up in a poor community in Monroeville. Walter lost his reputation after his affair with Karen Kelly, a white woman. At the same time, the murder of a beloved local white woman, Ronda Morrison, rattled the town. Ralph Myers, who was a mentally unstable white man that was involved in a criminal activity with Karen Kelly, arbitrarily accused “Karen’s black boyfriend” of the murder of Ronda Morrison. The openly racist local sheriff’s, with the help of the District Attorney’s and several investigators, to pursue Walter’s conviction. All together, they suppressed evidence, bribed witnesses into false testimony, and forced Myers to testify even after he tried to recant. Walter was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, which left his wife Minnie and his five children on their

He illustrates how media sensationalism around “killer moms” has influenced the unreasonable criminalization of poor, drug-addicted and mentally ill mothers. He also argues that the criminal justice system is unfair toward the mentally ill and disabled. He illustrates his argument with the stories of Herbert Richardson and Jimmy Dill, two mentally ill men that EJI unsuccessfully represented during late stages of their cases. Stevenson tells the stories of both men’s executions and the profound, heartbreaking impact that their deaths had on