“You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance, Bryan. You have to get close”(Stevenson 13). This reality that Bryan Stevenson’s grandmother voices in Just Mercy expose the many issues that plague the criminal justice system today. How the alienation of the convicted causes a disconnect between the prosecutors and the persecuted, the lack of empathy and effort to get close to the ones who are most vulnerable. Only by utilizing empathy are we able to further resonate with the condemned as humans and understand the inhumane nature of the punishments we give. With empathy and healing, we can guide those who have done wrong toward making it right. This is best exhibited in the cases of Avery Jenkins, and Ralph Myers where you …show more content…
Avery Jenkins is a mentally disabled African American man that was severely damaged and abused by the foster system since he was two years old. The mental impairment that has sprouted due to this abuse manifested into him taking the life of a man during a psychotic episode. While Bryan Stevenson presents his case in court he accentuates the absence of empathy in the prosecution of Avery Jenkins. He compares it to “‘[Asking] someone who had just lost his legs, you must climb these stairs with no assistance, and if you don't, you’re just lazy’”(Stevenson 173). With this analogy, Bryan highlights how the lack of understanding and consideration for Avery Jenkin's circumstances lead to him being punished to inhumane lengths, and if there was only some attempt to understand or empathize with his past, they would have decided on a punishment that fits the crime. The healing properties that empathy can cause are later illustrated by Avery's correctional officer. The correctional officer initially had no compassion and or empathy for Avery Jenkins but as he stood in the courtroom and listened to Avery’s past in the foster system he began to empathize with Avery as he too was “Moved around like [he] wasn't wanted nowhere”(Stevenson 175). This led the correctional officer to start to sympathize more with Avery as indicated by him buying Avery a …show more content…
Ralph’s abusive and traumatic past was a factor in his repeated lies for attention as well as roping him into the accusations of Walter Mcmillian. While Ralph Myers was in prison he participated in an empathy support group that helped people talk about their pasts and the traumatic events that lead to the immoral actions that placed them in prison. During Ralph's time in the support group, he resolves that "[He] needed to make it right. That's what [he's] tryin' to do"(Stevenson 113). This statement shows the contemplation he had about his actions while confiding within the group, additionally, it demonstrates his attempt to reverse and rectify what he's done by contacting Bryan. Additionally, Bryan makes us, the readers, empathize with Ralph Myers. Bryan discloses how his traumatic upbringing and desire for attention drove him to his dishonest accusations of Walter McMillian. Bryan tries to make us see past his label of a 'liar' or a 'snake' and see him as somebody who's been broken by his past and due to that, he breaks others. We, the readers, can be regarded as a representation of the criminal justice system, and how "So many of us have become afraid and angry"(Stevenson 239). Many of us convict or judge others with no consideration for their past suffering. In the case of Ralph Myers, we viewed him as one
In McMillian’s case, the power of the criminal law is employed, not to control crime, but to instigate a felony in the form of unfair conviction of the innocent. As much as the reader may want to overlook the possibility of racial influence in this matter, it is impossible, because discrimination against the blacks is a dominant theme in the cases recounted by Stevenson. To sum it up, the case of Walter McMillian in Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” explicitly presents him as a victim of the judicial system whose predicament is worsened by the fact that he is black. The themes of constitutional violation, unfair conviction, legal activism, and racial discrimination are prevalent throughout.
Have you ever needed something so desperately and you still didn’t get it?We learn how the incarcerated people in the book Just Mercy have been denied their medical attention, even though they had pleaded. The book was written by Brian Stevenson, who is a Criminal Defense Lawyer. It reveals the truth of the unfair actions made by the Criminal Justice system. Its inadequacy in medical treatment is certainly a prime contribution to the deaths of many prisoners each year. We learn how some people were denied the very thing they need to survive, their medication they need to help them wake up the next morning.
Our book was Just Mercy and our book shows that one person can make a difference. One example of Bryan Stevenson making making a difference is when he goes out to Atlanta and makes an organization calls EJI for short. This organization that he makes helps people who are imprisoned. Along the way he finds other lawyers wanting to help the imprisoned people as well so it grows his organization making it so they can help more people. Stevenson uses in saddening imagery, dialogue, and secondary sources to make the reader connect with the stories of the victims he helps.
The (In)justice System “‘I feel like they done put me on death row, too. What do we tell these children about how to stay out of harm’s way when you can be at your own house, minding your own business, surrounded by your entire family, and they still put some murder on you that you ain’t do and send you to death row?’”(Stevenson 93). In the memoir Just Mercy, we follow the life story of Bryan Stevenson who we see start out as a young Harvard law student and as the novel progresses transforms into a lawyer helping those on death row who do not have any help. He has many experiences where he sees people change, statistics that prove injustice, and where he experiences injustice. All of these are examples of rhetorical strategies, which are
have you ever wounderd what empathy means if you stay and listen to what i have to say then you can learn a thing or two on what and how empathy is used . in these two books to kill a mocking bird and marigolds they show what empathy is. in the book marigolds they only have one person that really explains empathy in her point of view in very detailed words. to kill a mocking bird it is distributed to all the characters,but in this story atticus show more empathy in the book but he isnt like lizabeth in marigolds. there both kind of them same lizabeth hates herself and atticus would hate himself if he didn't do something for tom Robinson.
The novel Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, presents its story through first-person narratives that explore the identities of multiple death row inmates through the perspective of a lawyer, Bryan Stevenson. Most of these inmates are given names and backstories, such as Walter McMillan, an innocent African American man who was accused and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman. Through these personal experiences, Stevenson can relay his message of equality and justice to his audience as he explores the inmates' humanity which is presented through their emotions and their kindness toward Stevenson throughout the novel. Stevenson also establishes throughout the novel that these men acted toward Stevenson with an "unusual warmth
“There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy (Stevenson 109) .” This bold statement is one of many as Bryan Stevenson sets the tone for his renowned award winning novel Just Mercy. As a young lawyer from Georgia, built the foundation for his company, SPDC (Southern Prisoners Defense Committee) to help convicts that are on death row or in need a second chance. Bryan Stevenson, a young lawyer from Georgia who fought for justice on the behalf of inmates on death row, showed tremendous intelligence in becoming a successful lawyer, demanding for not backing down in moments of refusal, and was an overall advocate
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.
Bryan, the protagonist of Bryan Stevenson's novel Just Mercy, is depicted as a well-dressed, bearded black lawyer who is both ambitious and knowledgeable, demonstrating to the reader that Bryan is an amazing lawyer who wants to help save people on death row. Bryan describes himself when he says, "I was a bearded black male, and I was trying to meet the court’s expectations of what a lawyer looks like. " This shows that Bryan takes his job seriously and is willing to please the court and show the court he’ll dress nicely just to help win his case with Walter. Bryan also shows that he has the ambition to help defend condemned people on death row and is willing to do anything to help them win their case when he says that he is "determined to do
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” wrote Bryan Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson is the author of the nonfiction novel Just Mercy, a true story about the wrongfully imprisoned Walter McMillian. McMillian was put away for murder but did not commit the crime. This is about how McMillian was freed from this accusation. In the novel Just Mercy, Stevenson proves that one bad action does not define a person, and that mercy is important to show when a mistake is made through his use of pathos, logos, and ethos.
Just Mercy Final Reflection In the United States, child incarceration has been a longstanding problem. According to the Sentencing Project of 2021, there are nearly 50,000 juveniles being held in detention centers, prisons, or other correctional facilities. This issue was brought to light from Just Mercy by Bryan Stevensons, which chronicles the work of Stevenson as a lawyer advocating for those who have been wrongly convicted, including children. Stevenson’s book is mainly centered around Walter McMillian, a black man wrongfully accused of murder and sentenced to death.
Mercy, a concept describing compassion or forgiveness towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. As a humanitarian, future world leader and citizen of America I’d like to think that the world I live in is a forgiving place where everyone gets a second chance. Unfortunately, in the court of law, this is not always true. By reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson I found that it is very hard to acquire justice and redemption to many civilians who have been incarcerated. This book explores various stories of injustices in the judicial system by incorporating people from different racial groups, socioeconomic background, mental disabilities and more.
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 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.
1. Which social problems are treated in this book? Why did they develop? 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.