Thursday, May 11, 2017

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

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.

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