Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson | Book Summary
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Author: Bryan Stevenson
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Thus, Bryan Stevenson sets out to tell the story of Walter McMillian, a black man from rural Alabama who was accused of killing a white woman in 1986. Stevenson knows the story quite well since he was Walter's lawyer, but he only became his lawyer after McMillian was already on death row. This work is about far more than McMillian's case as Stevenson recounts the story of his founding the Equal Justice Initiative and works through many other cases he has handled as a lawyer. The purpose Stevenson has in retelling these stories is to bring the reader "closer to mass incarceration and extreme punishment in America…[and to understand] how easily we condemn people in this country and the injustice we create when we allow fear, anger, and distance to shape the way we treat the most vulnerable among us" (p. 14). After all, as one ancient writer put it, mercy triumphs over judgment (Jam. 2:13). |
Bryan Stevenson has taught at New York University School of Law since 1998. He graduated from Harvard in 1985. He met his first condemned man in 1983 and has had a passion for helping those on death row since that time, particularly the impoverished and downcast of society.
"Since 1989, he has been executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a private, nonprofit law organization he founded that focuses on social justice and human rights in the context of criminal justice reform in the United States. EJI litigates on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct." (see more)
He has won numerous accolades for his work, and his only book, Just Mercy, is a New York Times best seller.
Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson
[ Book Summary ]
| Author | Bryan Stevenson |
| Publisher | Spiegel & Grau |
| Date | August 18, 2015 |
| Pages | 316 |
Overview:
"The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned." (p. 18)
Thus, Bryan Stevenson sets out to tell the story of Walter McMillian, a black man from rural Alabama who was accused of killing a white woman in 1986. Stevenson knows the story quite well since he was Walter's lawyer, but he only became his lawyer after McMillian was already on death row.
This work is about far more than McMillian's case as Stevenson recounts the story of his founding the Equal Justice Initiative and works through many other cases he has handled as a lawyer. The purpose Stevenson has in retelling these stories is to bring the reader "closer to mass incarceration and extreme punishment in America…[and to understand] how easily we condemn people in this country and the injustice we create when we allow fear, anger, and distance to shape the way we treat the most vulnerable among us" (p. 14).
After all, as one ancient writer put it, mercy triumphs over judgment (Jam. 2:13).
Bryan Stevenson has taught at New York University School of Law since 1998. He graduated from Harvard in 1985. He met his first condemned man in 1983 and has had a passion for helping those on death row since that time, particularly the impoverished and downcast of society.
"Since 1989, he has been executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a private, nonprofit law organization he founded that focuses on social justice and human rights in the context of criminal justice reform in the United States. EJI litigates on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct." (see more)
He has won numerous accolades for his work, and his only book, Just Mercy, is a New York Times best seller.