Summary Of Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

Certain books can help people understand and reflect on important global issues. This book does exactly that. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a compelling story that addresses significant problems like racial discrimination/bias, socio-economic inequality, and gender roles/inequality. Through the lens of the power of the American justice and court system, Stevenson exposes the biases and injustices that affect vulnerable communities, in this case, black communities, that are viewed as unimportant and treated horribly, through short stories, and powerful dialogue. Stevenson can’t seem to emphasize hard enough how people of color struggle for justice and fairness, by including many short stories about how diverse characters face adversities,

His case was sadly based on unreliable witnesses and racial bias, and was surprisingly flawed, as the jury simply disregarded strong evidence, and even the fact that the main witness, Ralph Myers, who was a white man, had a criminal record but had been persuaded by the police through intimidation and force to frame Walter. Stevenson further expressed his disappointment with the justice system by saying to the judge, “It was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man of murder and send him to death row for something he didn’t do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence. We have serious problems and important work that must be done in this state.” (227, Stevenson). The police and the legal system’s willingness to manipulate evidence and witnesses to claim an innocent man guilty of a criminal offense highlights the dark side of racial injustice, as the white jury turned a blind eye to the obvious lies in the witness’s story, choosing to instead focus on McMillian's race and alleged

He desperately pleaded with Bryan Stevenson to help him get out of the mess, crying, “I don’t have a volunteer lawyer, Mr. Stevenson. I don’t have anyone to help. My volunteer lawyer said he couldn’t do any more to help me, over a year ago. I need your help.” (82, Stevenson). Richardson’s case was complicated because of his lack of resources to hire a good lawyer, leading to a trial that didn’t consider his mental health and background. This example proves how socio-economic status can determine the defense a convict gets, leading to unfair trials and unjust prison sentences for the poor. This inability to afford a proper lawyer creates a cycle of poverty and imprisonment, where unjustly treated “convicts” are stuck in a system that doesn’t provide equal opportunities for justice. The inequality portrayed throughout the case of Herbert Richardson proves that people from poor backgrounds are more likely to be convicted and get harsher sentences. Just Mercy also illustrates how racial and socio-economic issues cross and work hand-in-hand to create a very flawed justice