Bryan Stevenson defines just mercy as mercy that is "rooted in
hopefulness and freely given." He goes on to say "Mercy is more
empowering, liberating and transformative when it is directed at the
undeserving. The people who haven't earned it, who haven't even sought
it." That is in essence, the heart of this book.
Mr. Stevenson, a lawyer with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI),
tells not just one, but many stories of justice and redemption.
Stories of men, women and even children who have been unjustly
imprisoned, many of them on death row. Some are stories of blatant
racism, some are tales of a flawed justice system, others speak of a
broad misunderstanding of people with mental health issues.
The
main story that Stevenson shares is of Walter McMillian, a young black
man wrongly sentenced to death for murdering a white woman named Rhonda
Morrison. The truth of the matter is that there were multiple witnesses
who vouched for Walter's whereabouts during the murder and there was no
physical evidence to point to him, but the local townsfolk were anxious
for an arrest and the local law enforcement wanted to comply. They
found a felon who was willing to risk perjury by lying on the witness
stand and railroaded an innocent man. I won't spoil the book by telling
you how the story ends, but it is indeed both a fascinating and
horrifying case.
Attorney Stevenson spent years working on
McMillian's case. As one of his first cases after founding the EJI, it
impacted him greatly. He is today one of the most influential lawyers
in America and has numerous humanitarian awards for his efforts. It's a pleasure to know that sometimes the good guys still win!
I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.
