Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson

I have long admired Bryan Stevenson's work as the founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative and marveled at his fierce yet gentle demeanor. But I had never read his book until now--and it confirms that he is a true American hero. The book details his work on behalf of those treated unfairly in the criminal justice system, often because of racial discrimination, but also because they lacked the resources needed to receive a fair trial because they were poor, young, or disabled. The story of Walter McMillian, who was wrongly convicted of a murder (literally everyone involved with the investigation and prosecution lied) and sentenced to death, provides a through line for the book. Eventually, Stevenson was able to win McMillian's freedom, and he continued to assist McMillian after his release (as he and EJI have done for many).

Alternating with chapters about McMillian are chapters that delve into some of the issues with which Stevenson and the EJI have worked--sentencing and treatment of the mentally disabled or mentally ill, trying juveniles as adults and rendering death penalty or life without parole penalties in those cases, women who had stillbirths and were subsequently charged with murder, and more. Near the end of the book, he describes the decision to become in education programs to help people understand racial discrimination in the larger context of the African American experience in the United States with slavery, post-Reconstruction terrorism, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration being four phases of that experience. That work has resulted in the construction of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice; you can learn more about these educational projects at https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/.

The book can be difficult reading--I was crying on an airplane as I read earlier today--but it should be read by everyone, particularly those who think that our justice system operates well. Highly recommended.

Favorite passages:

The kind of hope that creates a willingness to position oneself in a hopeless place and be a witness, that allows one to believe in a better future, even in the face of hope makes one strong.

I guess I'd always known but never fully considered that being broken is what makes us human. We all have our reasons. Sometimes we're fractured by the choices we make; sometimes we're shattered by things we would never have chosen. But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion.