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Persuasive Techniques In Just Mercy

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The prison system in the USA is very flawed and functions as a way for racists to torture people, and the story “Just Mercy” is an excellent example. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a true story about the wrongfully accused and about the terrible system functioning on racism and torture. In his memoir, Bryan Stevenson uses literary nonfiction strategies to reinforce his argument that “the criminal justice system can do a better job of respecting the humanity and dignity of all people.” The descriptive settings help to really show the torture and mistreatment, furthering his argument. His description of death row is an excellent example of how his descriptions show the torture: “Condemned prisoners on Alabama’s death row unit were housed in windowless concrete buildings that were notoriously hot and uncomfortable. Each death row inmate was locked in a 5 by 8 foot cell with a metal door.the temperatures in August consistently reached more than 100 degrees. many could smell the scent of burnt flesh”(Stevenson 54-56). This quote is an excellent description of the horrid living conditions. Being locked in a cubicle sized concrete room over 100 degrees is very clearly torture. The description of the scent in those cells is …show more content…

The phrasing he used on why Walter was accused really showed that it was just racism. Stevenson wrote: “Now, four months into his term as sheriff, he faced a seemingly unsolvable murder and intense public pressure. But there was now evidence against Walter except that he was an African-American man in an adulterous interracial affair. maybe that was evidence enough.” This quote demonstrates how racism makes people suffer for nothing but their ethnicity. As the quote states, there was no evidence besides the fact that he was a black man dating a white woman. He was caused much suffering, because he was framed for murder, simply for being a black

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Bryan Stevenson’s novel Just Mercy tells of his times as a death row attorney for inmates that were unjustly and inhumanely represented in the American court system. A #1 New York Times Bestseller, the book itself tells a story of a man named Walter McMillan who was sentenced to death row in an Alabama state prison. Walter landed in prison after a woman named Ronda Morrison from his hometown Monroe Alabama was found dead at her workplace Monroe cleaners on November 1st, 1983. This telling by Stevenson highlights the injustices and systemized racism that exists in our southern court systems, and without just attorneys like Stevenson to represent these disadvantaged men and women these inhumane practices will only continue.

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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.

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In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson tells a first person account of his years defending the people who were wrongly convicted or punished by the US justice system. At the heart of the novel is the story of Walter McMillian, a man wrongly convicted of murder and sent to death row. Throughout the novel, Stevenson presents examples of individuals who were wrongfully punished due to racism and discrimination. He shows the readers how our criminal justice system unfairly impacts members of the Black community. He also highlights the destruction and devastation this can cause.

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Bryan Stevenson uses the art of rhetoric in Just Mercy to allow readers to understand how America’s history of racial tension has influenced mass incarceration through the criminal justice system. Stevenson asserts throughout the book how the criminal justice system is corrupted through vast instances such as Joe Sullivan and Walter McMillian. The criminal justice scene immorally targets those who suffer from mental illnesses, people of color, and the poor. Through Stevenson’s rhetoric, readers come to understand the parallel worlds between himself and those convicted.

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Dyaan Sharafat Meltreger English I 16 April 2024 Reforging Justice Through “Just Mercy”, the idea of justice has been the main focus of the government's way of intending to solve misbehavior and bring back balance in the community. However, the concern of what justice requires specifically for those who have committed crimes, stays complicated as well as even. In Bryan Stevenson's story, "Just Mercy," we look into this by analyzing our criminal justice system and its effectiveness in providing justice and equality to those impacted by it. Stevenson's point of view convinces us to face the system's injustices and think about the reformation of the faulty justice system, which requires the development of a much fairer system.

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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.

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Stevenson's use of this technique is a result of, the stereotypes and prejudice common, in the Southern courts. The social climate influences the jury as they believe black men are unreliable and believe whites at a higher rate, which is a common stereotype that affects the way the jury sees Walter and

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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

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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.

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Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson is a heartwrenching and revolutionary novel that exposes the deep-rooted and systemic injustices within the United States criminal justice system. Bryan Stevenson grew up as an African American experiencing poverty and the strong racial prejudices present in formerly Confederate states. He attended law school and developed into an extremely motivated and gifted lawyer, later founding the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). Stevenson’s novel follows his journey defending the unfairly condemned, often society’s most vulnerable, individuals. His book serves as a rallying cry against racism, poverty, and inequality that saturates our legal institutions.

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1/5/23 Racial injustice has been a prominent issue in the American criminal justice system for centuries prior to Bryan Stevenson's entry in the criminal justice world. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, goes in depth on specific unjust criminal charges based on racial assumptions. Bryan Stevenson does work on ending these suffrages and freeing clients who have been unfairly accused on death row. Throughout the book, Stevenson addresses systemic racism through examples of jury selection, several case studies of unfairly incarcerated individuals, and police brutality which his advocacy for inmates overcomes by creating racial justice within the criminal justice system.

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Maybe that was evidence enough,” (Stevenson 31). This part of the book captures how something that has nothing to do with the case, the color of one of the important characters (i.e. Walter McMillian) skin, impacted whether or not he was proven guilty of a murder that he had nothing at all to do with. If racism wasn’t such an extreme issue in the book, Walter would have never been accused of doing something so vile. The blame was pinned to Walter because he was a black man,

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The novel Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson has brought to life the horrors of the prison system. Previously, I knew very little about the prison system, especially the level of injustice experienced by numerous prisoners. While I knew of the discrimination in the courtrooms for minorities, Stevenson’s stories added a personal touch to a harsh reality. I was especially shocked when Stevenson related the story of how he was stopped by police outside of his own house. Although he had done nothing wrong, the police immediately accused him of crimes, which he did not understand.

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By explaining Walter’s situation and why he was convicted and put on death row, Stevenson was able to highlight the injustices within the judicial system and how so many innocent people can be judged too quickly because of one’s race, status, or class. Another anecdote used to demonstrate these prejudices is Stevenson’s mention of the inhuman death of Lourida Ruffin; also a black man, Ruffin lived in Alabama where the predominantly white society felt very negatively towards anyone of a different race. After committing a minor traffic violation, Ruffin was beaten by police and then was refused his asthma inhaler, and he later died in the police station’s holding cell. This case alone emphasizes the constant issue of police brutality, especially towards African American males that is still prevalent today. Stevenson later moves to discuss unfair treatment of the mentally ill in prison, using the case of Herbert

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Ashley Tinajero Mrs. Trull AP Language and Composition 27 December 2022 Just Mercy The book Just Mercy tackles many different issues throughout the novel however its most notable one being the political injustice that consistently damages people of color and to be specific Americans the author Bryan Stevenson translates this issue through his thoughtful rhetoric and eliciting a sense of hope and sadness within the reader to emphasize the issue of the flawed justice system targeting African Americans and imposing rules that are purposefully set to ensure African Americans do not succeed in trials of any sort. In the novel the main case is that of Walter Mcmillion who is wrongly accused by a white man of murdering a young girl with the blatant

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