There have been many wrongful convictions throughout the years, innocent defendants are found guilty in criminal trials for a crime they didn't commit. To avoid harsh punishments like the death penalty or extremely long prison sentences, defendants feel the need to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. Innocents who were wrongfully convicted spend years in prison or on death row shows that the criminal justice system has given terrible injustice. This has been an issue that has never been solved for years by the U.S legal system. U.S citizens notice such injustice occurs every day in American courts has them doubt the fairness of the criminal justice system. In the novel, “Just Mercy,” exonerating the Falsely Accused is highlighted as …show more content…
Bryan, I know it may not matter to you, but it’s important to me that you know that I’m innocent and didn’t do what they said I did, not no kinda way.” Walter was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Ronda Morrison, who worked as a clerk in a dry cleaning store in Monroeville, Alabama. There was no solid evidence against Mr. McMillian. At in the beginning of his trial, Walter was found guilty and was sentence to life in prison, then new charges against him came and he was sentenced to death. His trial lasted only a day and a half. Three witnesses testified against Mr. McMillian and the jury ignored multiple alibi witnesses, who were black, who testified that he was at a church fish fry at the time of the crime. The trial judge overrode the jury’s sentencing verdict for life without parole and sentenced Mr. McMillian to death. Bryan Stevenson took on Mr. McMillian’s case in post-conviction, where he showed that the State’s witnesses had lied on the stand and the prosecution had illegally halt the defense side’s evidence. Mr. McMillian's conviction was overturned by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in 1993 and prosecutors agreed the case had been mismanage. Walter McMillian was released in March 1993 after spending six years on death row for a crime he did not
Bryan Stevenson first got into death penalty cases to gain experience for school. The kids at Harvard advanced degrees and obtained great amount of experience. Therefore, Bryan felt pressure to catch up, but he wanted to “something with the poor, America’s history of racial inequality, and the struggle to be equitable and
Just Mercy touches on the idea of racial inequality and profiling the modern day american justice system by bringing us to a variety of cases that demonstrated this injustice. Bryan Stevenson also referenced an experience he personally had where he was being targeted by authorities for no good reason other than racial profiling. This theme of racial injustice and profiling connects Just Mercy to To Kill a Mockingbird. This idea is brought upon in To Kill a Mockingbird with Tom Robinson’s court case in which he is accused of committing rape. Many people judged Atticus Finch for defending Tom, not because of the allegations of committing rape, but rather the fact that he was defending a black man. Further proving the point that the contents in To Kill a Mockingbird can still be valuable today.
In light of the most recent election results I find myself worrying about the countless social and economic injustices that will perpetuate to occur in our country. I dwell on our history, of how our social welfare system created and continues to reinforce discrimination, privilege and oppression. How did we end up like this and where is that “American dream” promised to those within our boarders? Literary works $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer, Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond by Marc Lamont Hill, and Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A story of justice and redemption, seek to describe how social injustices and economic issues manifest
He worked hard and had his own business cutting trees. McMillian became well known due to an affair he had with a local married women Karen Kelley. Kelly was a white women and it became big news once in Monroe County about her affair with a black man. A few months after the murder of Ronda Morrison, a criminal named Ralph Myers was arrested for the murder of Vickie Pittman in a nearby county. Myers was a well-known criminal who was into drugs. Myers, but had started seeing Kelly during the months after McMillian and her split. Myers now in jail was trying to pin the murder on people including Sherriff Tate of Monroe County. Once he realized that was not sticking, he changed his story. Stevenson (2014) “… he had been involved in the murder of Vickie Pittman along with Karen Kelly and her black boyfriend, Walter McMillian. But that wasn’t all. He also told police that McMillian was responsible for the murder of Ronda Morrison.” (p, 33). Ralph Myers has now implicated McMillian, an innocent man, for the murder of Morrison who he no part in the event. McMillian was quickly charged and sent to death row before even being sentenced for the murder or Morrison. Within a year or so Myers and couple other people gave false testimony and McMillian in less than two days was sentenced to capital punishment with the death
If that does not occur to the reader as an issue than factoring in the main problem of the topic where innocent people die because of false accusation will. In addition, this book review will include a brief review of the qualifications of the authors, overview of the subject and the quality of the book, and as well as my own personal thoughts on the book. In the novel Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make It Right authors Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer expose the flaws of the criminal justice system through case histories where innocent men were put behind bars and even on death row because of the miscarriages of justice. Initially, the text promotes and galvanizes progressive change in the legal
In Bryan Stevenson book Just Mercy, Stevenson exposed many things about the justice system. He explain to his audience that the justice system are treated minorities wrong. Bryan Stevenson influences on the readers’ thoughts about the justice system. He makes the readers question if we are being treated right. Stevenson does this by using logos effectively by providing the readers with the cases he dealt with. There are four cases that stuck out to readers are the Walter, Charlie, Horace, and Joe.
“Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson (2014) really uncovers the devastating truth behind our justice system, from people who provide false testimony on a whim, to biased jurors, to an entire court system that does not, chooses not, to recognize its own errors. The book focuses on the Walter McMillan case, and is interwoven with chapters of how Stevenson came to study law, with different cases he’s worked on braided in with accurate and relevant facts throughout. The story, from a perspective as a person that is relatively against the death penalty, and certainly is against youth being punished to “die in prison” (a term used by Stevenson that is much more factual) is heartbreaking to read.
Just Mercy documents the incredible and heart wrenching experiences of Equal Justice Initiative founder and attorney extraordinaire, Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson’s niche is a unique and unexpected focus for a lawyer. He works with people that society often wrongfully characterizes as “criminals” that are usually either on death row or condemned to life in prison. Before seeing a segment of Opera’s interview with Stevenson, and reading this book, I couldn’t understand what typically motivates a lawyer to want to protect the rights of criminals and the un-just. In fact, one of Stevenson’s early mentors, Steve Bright, explained the, “‘opportunity’ isn’t necessarily the first word people think of when they think about doing work with us [Southern Prisoners Defense Committee],” because, “they live[ed] kind of simply, and the hours are pretty insane,” (Stevenson 2014, 6). However, a young Stevenson was undeterred by this claim, and went on to work some incredible cases, and exonerate many innocent and suffering individuals.
Bryan Stevenson has the same focus in the nonfiction memoir Just Mercy. He uses the pages of his memoir to tell the story of an innocent black man, in Monroeville Alabama who is falsely convicted of killing an 18-year-old, white, female, college student. In this story the year is 1980, but the racial divide still runs deep.
Steve Bogira, a prizewinning writer, spent a year observing Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courthouse. The author focuses on two main issues, the death penalty and innocent defendants who are getting convicted by the pressure of plea bargains, which will be the focus of this review. The book tells many different stories that are told by defendants, prosecutors, a judge, clerks, and jurors; all the people who are being affected and contributing to the miscarriage of justice in today’s courtrooms.
Bryan Stevenson is a defence attorney for a man named Herbert Richardson who 's on
In the book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, shame and repentance are necessary for rectifying the wrong done to people whether that wrong occurs intentionally or not within our neighborhood communities, and church communities and our families. With regards to Stevenson’s remarks about this theme I agree with him and identify with the moral consequences and Christian applications of the philosophy. Personal experience varies according to environment, morality, and behavioral choices and plays a crucial role in an individual’s interpretation of Stevenson’s premise. Everyone opinions may differ from mine, even if they agree with the statement. I’m intertest here in the many ways that individuals and communities alike interpret
As one grows older, certain trends begin to appear that are difficult not to notice. Naivety begins to fade and the harsh realities people are faced with every day present themselves. These realities shape how people perceive and treat others. A certain theme, or rather lack of theme, that is extremely pertinent in today’s society is the notion of humanity. Humanity is defined, by Merriam-Webster, as the quality or state of being humane or having a compassionate disposition. Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, is a book that perfectly embodies the theme of humanity. In this book, the reader follows the author throughout his journey from an idealistic, young lawyer to a revered attorney in his quest for justice for those deemed unfavorable by our
Criminal Law declares what conduct is illegal and proscribes a penalty. Although, we rely on our court system to administer justice, sometimes the innocent are convicted (Risinger). Most people would not be able to imagine a person who is convicted of a crime as innocent, sometimes that is the case. Imagine what a variance that is: an innocent criminal. In an article by Radley Balko he asks the question, “How many more are innocent?” In his article, he questions America’s 250th DNA exoneration and states that it raises questions about how often we send the wrong person to prison. The other issue that follows is the means of appealing the court’s decision and who they can turn to for help.
Theme: Mercy vs. Justice. Allusion to justice = eye for eye, tooth for tooth [measure for measure]; allusion to mercy = let him without sin cast the first stone [esp. sexual sin].