Throughout American history, innocent individuals have been wrongfully prosecuted, and have been sentenced to death. In Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, he showed various aspects of other’s perspectives and their situations. The different viewpoints of each family goes to show the two common issues, racial inequality and the injustice of the justice system. In the book, Stevenson dives deep into his relationship with Walter “Johnny D” McMillian and how he was innocent when he was given the death sentence. While reading the book, your viewpoints on racial inequality may change, and how individuals don’t get justice when it comes to the death penalty regardless of race. While some accept the idea of the death penalty, it should be abolished due …show more content…
According to Death Penalty Information, “International human rights law has long prohibited the use of the death penalty against people who were younger than age 18 at the time of the offense.” Reading this, and knowing Charlie's situation, would this change someone's mind about who is for the death penalty? Throughout the entirety of the book, Stevenson gives the readers the idea of racism in the south, social status of the family, and how people’s minds are working and the disorders they may have. Stevenson really illustrates this when he brings up the topic of Herbert Richardson, who was a war veteran, and sentenced to death for killing an 11-year-old girl. While Richardson didn’t intentionally kill the girl, he was still punished with death. Does this seem right to you? Yes, he killed an innocent child, but, there was no intent on this. This is where the death penalty goes wrong. The government won’t always give death to someone who intentionally kills someone, but a war vet who has been deeply traumatized, unintentionally kills someone, is sentenced to death. Where do we draw the line? Even though the death penalty has been abolished, there are many people who still want
Bryan Stevenson is a distinguished black man who was born into rural Delaware in 1959. Stevenson was raised in an impoverished community where he discovered that there is an obvious division between human beings. He realized that life is much different depending on what class and/or race you are a part of (2009 Justice Prize 1). His minority status caused him to be repeatedly mistreated and misunderstood; nobody took the time to get to know him prior to making false assumptions and accusations. It
Bryan Stevenson's in Just Mercy spends most of his time in prison with incarcerated and those who are in death roll which taught him that people are more than the worst thing they’ve done. He believes that the opposite of poverty isn't wealth; its Justice. I agree with Stevensons society should be judged and how it treats its most vulnerable members. Homeless people get treated like they're invisible in our society. People have the idea that many beggars are drug addicts or are just lazy
In the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a memoir where Bryan Stevenson guides us through his life as a lawyer for those who are death sentence. From 1983 when he was student at Harvard Law to 2013 where he lost a client he was defending for years , he takes us through several cases he has taken over the years and showed how they personally impacted him as not only as a lawyer , but a person as well. Bryan Stevenson first got into death penalty cases to gain experience for school
legal field, reading Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson gave me a new outlook on life, learning about true heartache behind bars. I always knew that being on death row was devastating for the ones who are in line waiting to face their death and for their families but after reading these different stories my mindset changed. As a matter of fact, I strongly agree with Stevenson 's views on death row and the complications of the legal system along with the defective