Walter Louis Stevenson Justice

In Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, he writes to illustrate the injustices of the judicial system to its readers. To do so, Stevenson utilizes multiple writing styles that provide variety and helps keep the reader engaged in the topic. Such methods of his include the use of anecdotes from his personal experiences, statistics, and specific facts that apply to cases Stevenson had worked on as well as specific facts that pertain to particular states. 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.

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.

In schools across the world, children learn that, despite rampant injustice committed by a few, there is still good in the honorable majority of mankind and the promise of righteousness under the law. These children mature idolizing both superheroes in society and those existing on the big screen, teaching that right will trump wrong and that good will prevail over evil. Unfortunately, however, this is not an all-encompassing theme outside of the fictional realm. In Louise Erdrich’s The Round House, Geraldine Coutts, a rape victim on a Native American reservation, finds only injustice in the very judicial system that sought to protect her.

In the introduction chapter of Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy, Stevenson states, “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.” I agree with this quote because it is easy to treat people with love and fairness when you like them and when they think and act like you. It is not so easy to treat someone with the same amount of respect and love when you prejudged them or make assumptions about them before getting to know them. It is significant to remember that all people deserve respect and compassion no matter the situation; it is the golden rule being lived out. Treat others how you want to be

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.      Through his interaction with Henry, Bryan’s understanding of redemption and hopefulness was altered.

The article forced me to ponder about the existence of unfairness and injustice which inevitably and constantly hinders society because the individual discussed in the article experiences these factors in an unusual and rather extreme circumstance. William Goldman, the author of The Princess’ Bride once rhetorically questioned, “Who says life is fair, where is [this statement] written?”, which summarizes the outcomes of life itself. Humans frequently face adversity throughout daily lives, whether minor challenges or major hurdles; these problems include unretainable lost objects or the death of a beloved individual. To others, injustice may appear judicially and politically; Ivan Henry and David Milgaard were both wrongfully convicted of sexual

One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” (P 308), which clearly portrays that Jean Louise’s transition from a young child to a young adult has begun, in contrast to the inhumanity she treats Walter Cunningham

The triumph to freedom for african americans was a rigid war that lasted hundreds of years. Often times in this war, african americans were alone and were treated like foreigners in their home country. Walter’s battles with segregation and inequalities, such as receiving lower income than white families, are represented in Hansberry’s play and in Simone’s poem. It is difficult for Walter to see why other people behave in the way that they do, and he often does not respond well to disagreements between him and his family, making him feel even more alone. Walter said in an argument with his mother about her buying the house, "You run our lives like you want to.

In Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy,” there is an underlying sense of hope that is seen in spurts through the constant stories of injustice and unfairness that take place. Throughout the book there are multiple people that are wrongly condemned and have to suffer on the dreaded death row. All of the inmates of the row know they will eventually be executed, but only a select few stay positive and give the reader a sense of hope in such a negative situation. Mr. Jenkins is one of those men. The mentally ill man was in and out of foster care as a child, and his terrible experiences lead to more serious brain damage.

In this essay, I will travel to the depths of little Walter's soul who in spite of his young age suffers from anxiety, fear and tumult in his beloved Birmingham due to his

Ayelet Waldman’s Daughter’s Keeper brings to light the injustice of the American legal system in regards to drug related crimes. When Olivia Goodman is thrown into an unforgiving world of trials, courtrooms, and mandatory minimums, readers are faced with the unfairness of the American justice system. It isn’t fair that that Olivia receive a four-year sentence, while Jorge, a man more culpable, more at fault receive only three years. It isn’t fair that Gabriel Contreras, a known criminal, gets to cut a deal with the DEA and end up with $3,560,633 and no jail time, while Treyvon’s unnamed cousin gets twenty years for merely introducing people. It isn’t fair that someone marginally involved in a crime be punished more severely than the others.

“Steinbeck Family Outraged That Texas Judge Cited ‘Of Mice and Men’ in Execution Ruling” emphasizes the Steinbeck family’s perspectives concerning the judicial system, as well as the original concept from which Lennie was derived. Meanwhile, “How Texas Keeps Putting the Intellectually Disabled on Death Row” imparts knowledge on the justice systems defects. However, both articles corroborate that specific legal cases are too serpentine to be compared with Steinbeck’s

All actions can be rationalized so long as they are done for the sake of justice. For the definition of justice is up to the definer. In the novel All the King’s Men violence and vengeance constitute justice. Through actions of violence, one can receive vengeance, and as a result of this justice can be obtained. Warren explores the theme of justice and reveals how it is perverted by greed, for out of one’s selfish desires comes violence; violence which is see as redemption, but also characterizes irrationality, suggesting that the meaning of justice is in the eye of the beholder

In her book, The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander who was a civil rights lawyer and legal scholar, reveals many of America’s harsh truths regarding race within the criminal justice system. Though the Jim Crow laws have long been abolished, a new form has surfaced, a contemporary system of racial control through mass incarceration. In this book, mass incarceration not only refers to the criminal justice system, but also a bigger picture, which controls criminals both in and out of prison through laws, rules, policies and customs. The New Jim Crow that Alexander speaks of has redesigned the racial caste system, by putting millions of mainly blacks, as well as Hispanics and some whites, behind bars

On my way back to Miami, waiting for my flight at La Guardia Airport in New York and was eager to board my plane, I decided to watch the nearby television to pass time. That’s when I learned about who Michael Brown was. He was an unarmed black teenager, shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. On the TV screen were countless vivid images of the scene of Brown’s death and almost instantly it became ground zero for local outrage. Devastated to hear that yet another another teenage boy was killed by law enforcement, it was clear to me that there was an urgent need for justice in the US.