Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Description: Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinkmanship--and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

Review: After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988, Stevenson traveled to Alabama and an internship that involved assisting inmates on Alabama's death row. He saw firsthand the injustices suffered by the poor and disadvantaged, who due to lack of securing legal representation were quickly executed. To help such people, he founded the Equal Justice Initiative.
 One of his first clients was Walter McMillian, a young black man accused of murdering a white woman and imprisoned on death row even before he was tried. Stevenson alternates chapters on the shocking injustice in McMillian’s case, including police and prosecutors misconduct, and racial bias with other startling cases. The pipeline of school to death row for teens was startling and eye-opening, particularly for non-homicidal offenses. There were two cases that feature teens broke my heart: a 14-year-old condemned to death for killing his mother’s abusive boyfriend and a mentally ill adolescent girl condemned to life in prison for second-degree murder for the death of young boys killed in a fire she started accidentally. Through these cases and others, Stevenson details changes in victims’ rights, incarceration of juveniles, death penalty reforms, inflexible sentencing laws, and the continued practices of injustice that see too many juveniles, minorities, and mentally ill people imprisoned in a frenzy of mass incarceration in the U.S.
  When I started Just Mercy, I had anticipated in just following the McMillian case, but there are  multiple cases to keep track of that got a bit tricky, especially when Stevenson jumps back and forth between them. I wished this book was a bit more streamlined yet the sheer amount of cases that he discusses in this book drives home the point of much needed change to our judicial system. This book is much more than a memoir of a budding lawyer, but a call for change and compassion when it comes to our justice system, the law, and the death penalty. 

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some strong language including the "n" word used as a racial slur and mentions of rape, domestic abuse, and executions of prisoners. Recommended for mature teens and adults.

If you like this book try: The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander