Bryan Stevenson Just Mercy

Have you ever had an experience that altered or shifted your understanding of something?  Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson examines the experience of Bryan as he fights cases for people on Death Row, including those who have been wrongly imprisoned and/or have a mental illness. Through his interaction with Henry, Marsha, and Jim, Bryan’s level of understanding redemption and hopefulness was altered.

In The Farm: Angola, documentary filmmakers Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus follow the lives of six prisoners in a maximum-security state penitentiary in Louisiana. Known as 'The Farm ' because it has fertile soil for crops and was once a former plantation where slaves worked its 18,000 acres-slaves from Angola, Africa. Of the six prisoners mentioned in the film, I felt the most compassion for Eugene ‘Bishop’ Tannehill, an elderly inmate who preaches eternal salvation as he awaits a parole that never comes. I also felt the least compassion for Vincent Simmons, accused of raping two women, but he says he didn 't commit the crimes. Later down the road, Wilbert Rideau lectured as the advocate for the reform of the criminal justice system and against the death penalty.

The most prominent writing tool that Stevenson included in Just Mercy is the incorporation of anecdotes from cases that he himself had worked on as a nonprofit lawyer defending those who were unrightfully sentenced to die in prison. The story of Walter McMillian, which Stevenson begins the book with, is the one recurring topic throughout the whole book; Stevenson narrates the entirety of Walter’s case and how he was put

Although she ended up spending months in jail, the arguments against her conviction on the legal terms of a change in jury member were not only heard out, but accepted, resulting in her freedom. (122). Although she faced unideal consequences under the law, as the jail time and fear of execution were certainly detrimental, they were far less severe than those that would have been expected. Compared to other women accused in other areas, Disborough’s legal consequences were notably light. She did, however, face more harsh consequences from her peers and fellow citizens. Regardless of legal acquittals, the public opinion is not easily changed, and so even after attaining freedom, Mercy Disborough found herself facing consequences from the people of Connecticut, including defamation by James Redfin (127). Such attacks, however, were conquerable through the law yet again and still paled in comparison to what could have befell Disborough in a less careful legal

There are many victims of unfortunate circumstances in the world today, yet some of these results could have been easily avoided. In the novel, Just Mercy, the author Bryan Stevenson addresses many cases in which children under the age of 18 are incarcerated within the adult criminal justice system. By treating children as adults in the criminal justice system their innocence and undeveloped person, become criminalized. These children become dehumanized and only viewed as full-fledged criminals and as a result society offers no chance sympathy towards them. Stevenson argues that children tried as adults have become damaged and traumatized by this system of injustice. His claim that children should not be tried as adults is agreeable because

The author gave many different statistics regarding the unfair legal system in American. As Stevenson puts into his own words, “Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The prison population has increased from 300,000 people in early 1970s to 2.3 million people today” (Stevenson 15). This shows the reader the numbers of people incarceration has increased. This leaves the reader with a question; why the number skyrocketed over the decades. After that, the readers are hooked on to reading the introduction and find answers to their questions. Later on, Stevenson put it into perspective that, “[s]cores of innocent people have been exonerated after being sentenced to death and nearly executed. Hundreds more have been released after being proved innocent of noncapital crimes through DNA testing” (Stevenson 16). The author helps his readers to understand that there are thousands of innocent people in prison due to unfairness. This answers the reader's question on why the number skyrocketed. Stevenson wants to bring his reader’s attention to unlawful imprisonment of people, and he successfully does this with the help of logos in this

Edgar Allen Poe is a famous writer who is well-known for his short stories. The Cask of Amontillado is one of Poe’s short stories which is about two men, Montresor and Fortunato. Fortunato did something to Montresor, the act is unknown, but it angered Montresor badly enough to make him feel the need to seek revenge. The story portrays Montresor’s long, drawn out plan to kill Fortunato. In the story, it is clear that he was set on killing Fortunato, because of his actions and emotions shown toward Fortunato. The ongoing argument of whether Montresor should be held to capital punishment or not hasn’t been solved. Facts and evidence back up the claim that Montresor should be killed for his wrongdoing.

His combination of appeal and troupes proved to be effective when Leopold and Loeb were gifted life in prison rather than a rope. His plea became an avenue for the digression of capital punishment by creating a sense of shame and sadness in his audience, a result of his ethos and pathos. Darrow’s rhetoric directly saved the lives of two young men as well indirectly saved the lives of many more by creating a negative connotation towards the death

In chapter 3, “Trials and Tribulation,” you read about Walter’s, arrest, his alibi, his trial and verdict, but what I find interesting is that Walter was so hopeful at the beginning, but went into anguish and fear. He went from thinking that he will be free soon, to doubting he will never be free from prison. During his time in prison, he heard from other prisoners about how the electric chair malfunctioned before, which made things worse for Walter and his emotional health. Stevenson explains, the end of the second paragraph, it says “Now he had found himself staring at the bleak walls of death row. Fear and anguish unlike anything he’d ever experienced settled on Walter” (56). Walter McMillian went from hope to fear and anguish. This also shows that Walter went to despair because he lost all hope to be released from prison. Walter didn’t receive justice, and in so his life went into poverty because his reputation was ruined, he was found guilty and faced death

Bryan Stevenson knew the perils of injustice and inequality just as well as his clients on death row. He grew up in a poor, racially segregated area in Delaware and his great-grandparents had been slaves. While he was a law student, he had interned working for clients on death row. He realized that some people were treated unfairly in the judicial system and created the Equal Justice Institute where he began to take on prisoners sentenced to death as clients since many death row prisoners had no legal representation of any kind. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson focuses on some of these true stories of injustice, mainly the case of his client, Walter McMillian.

Editor Anna Quindlen wrote many articles and essays conveying her opinion toward the death penalty. Such as, “Death Penalty Fails to Equal Retribution” and “Public & Private; The High Cost of Death”. Although Anna Quindlen makes many valuable accusations regarding her reasoning to being opposed to the death penalty, she undermines the real purpose of the penalty itself. The Death penalty, is indeed necessary. Many of the accusations Anna proclaims permit to the emotions of the victims families that have been robbed of their loved one by the said killer. My issue with not allowing the murder to see judgement, is the fact that they have done many horrific things to those they have slaughtered. When someone is born into this world, they are given

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption focuses on many social problems, including the miscarriage of justice to the poor, disabled and minorities; along with the poor living conditions in prisons, and the cruel and unusual punishment. The miscarriage of justice developed throughout our country’s history. Dating as far back as the 1800’s when slavery was an extreme issue, blacks and other minorities were considered to be the most likely to commit a crime and were often convicted on the testimony of a white person. Mr. McMillian is a perfect explain in the book as a

Euthanasia is the termination of terminally ill person’s life in order to relieve them from suffering. A person who undergoes Euthanasia usually has a terrible condition. Mostly it is carried out at patient’s request but sometimes they might be terribly ill and decision is made by family members, medics or courts. This issue is at the centre of debates for years and is surrounded

Homicides are unlike many others, since one’s intentions are discrete as soon as they have a reason to murder. Threatened obligations are innumerable due to the character's personality and their way of thinking into certain circumstances, although a distinct detail can affect the situation. When little to none consequences have any impact to the “murderer” who caused victim's injury, or death, they are responsible regardless of what their intentions are. For instance, a distressed officer, U.S. Marshal Edward Mars, pleaded to end his miserable life due to the pain he was suffering from the shrapnel. Everyone in the camp suggests the cruel deed. Even though Jack reluctantly disagrees. Nevertheless, Sawyer performs the dreadful act himself, though

The late, Louis Pojman, was a great American philosopher, who was known for his many writings such as A Defense of the Death Penalty. The death penalty has always been a very touchy subject for most people. People have their views of what they consider right or wrong. Philosopher Pojman was pro-death penalty, so naturally he had some who agreed with him and some that did not. As I read the “Best Bet” argument my opinion of murderers is that they deserve to be killed for their horrid actions. Pojman uses emotion to prove his argument very well.