What is Just Mercy about?
Just Mercy is Bryan Stevenson ’s account of his decades-long career as a legal advocate for marginalized people who have been either falsely convicted or harshly sentenced.
Can unexpected mercy break the cycle of suffering?
He reflects that unexpected mercy can break the cycle of suffering and provide healing. In 2010, the Supreme Court rules that sentencing children convicted of non-homicides to life without parole is unconstitutional and, two years later, extends that to children convicted of homicides.
What happens in Chapter 8 of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson?
In chapter 8 of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson tells the stories of Trina, Ian, and Antonio first to support that point that many juvenile offenders are victims as well and that since they don't know... In Just Mercy, how does getting close to Walter MacMillan affect Bryan Stevenson's life?
Is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson a true story?
Just Mercy In the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Bryan who is an attorney guides us through his life in Alabama and how he helps defend innocent, poor men on death row who were wrongly convicted. Throughout each case, we see how a good... Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is almost like a real life version of To Kill A Mockingbird.
What challenge does Stevenson know he will face in arguing that life imprisonment sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual?
What challenge does the author know he will face in arguing that life imprisonment sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual? The "unusual" part would be hard to establish since "more than 2,500 children in the United States had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole" (269).
How does Stevenson finally convince Charlie to speak with him Just Mercy?
How does Stevenson finally convince Charlie to speak with him? He convinces Charlie to talk to him after he puts his arm around him and he starts to shake.
What was Stevenson's message in Chapter 8?
Stevenson illustrates the inequity of the justice system by juxtaposing Trina's life sentence for an unintended crime with the immunity the local justice system gives to the guard who raped her.
What is the purpose of Chapter 6 of Just Mercy?
Chapter Six: Surely Doomed Stevenson's attention turns to fourteen-year-old Charlie, a good student who killed his mother's abusive boyfriend and is being held in adult county jail. Before meeting Charlie, Stevenson reviews the incident.
What is the true measure of character according to Bryan Stevenson?
“The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned,” Stevenson '81 writes in his book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
What was the result of the author taking Charlie's case?
When Stevenson discovers Charlie's situation, he agrees to represent him. He succeeds in having Charlie's case moved to a juvenile court. Charlie is released years later as a young man.
Why are Poole and the other servants frightened?
Why are Poole and the other servants frightened? They have been hearing strange sounds from Jekyll's cabinet, and a voice that isn't Jekyll's. They think someone killed Jekyll and took his place.
How does Stevenson describe the journey to the part of the city where Hyde lives what is it like there cite evidence from the text?
Stevenson describes the journey to the part of the city where Hyde lives as a poorer part of town and tells how dirty and horrible the door is to Hyde's house. Why is it so difficult to get an image of Hyde for the handbills (wanted posters)? It is difficult to get an image of Hyde because no one can describe his face.
How would you have changed the ruling in Trina Ian and Antonio's sentencing?
How would you have changed the ruling in Trina, Ian, and Antonio's sentencing? All three of them should not have been sent to prison because they were still so young and were not fully developed people. While being so young, they have so much time to change throughout their life.
What does it mean to beat the drum for justice?
One is simply the quote the old man says, which is “You've got to beat the drum for justice.” It is a relatively short quote, and yet it is so powerful and says so much. It implies that you have to call for justice loudly like a drum, that you have to keep at it like the steady pace of a drum being beaten.
What happened at the end of Just Mercy?
Bryan and Johnny D remained friends until Johnny died, Eva continues to run EJI to this day, and decades later, in 2015, Bryan was able to prove false evidence in Anthony Ray Hinton's case and finally get him released from death row.
What happened in Chapter 5 of Just Mercy?
In chapter five “Of the Coming of John” he returns focusing on Walter's case and how it is effecting Walter's community. Bryan goes to Monroe County to meet with Walter's family and begins to have a deeper understanding of how traumatizing this is for Walter's family as well.
Just Mercy
I'm sorry, building?
How does trauma increase injustice for black Americans?
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder pervade the cases Stevenson discusses. The injustice his clients experience has lasting effects on the co...
How does Stevenson argue that the modern day prison system acts as a continuation of slavery?
Stevenson returns to the theme of mass incarceration—i.e. locking Americans in prison at historically unheard-of rates—throughout the memoir. He de...
Just Mercy
I'm sorry, building?
How does trauma increase injustice for black Americans?
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder pervade the cases Stevenson discusses. The injustice his clients experience has lasting effects on the co...
How does Stevenson argue that the modern day prison system acts as a continuation of slavery?
Stevenson returns to the theme of mass incarceration—i.e. locking Americans in prison at historically unheard-of rates—throughout the memoir. He de...
What is Trina Garnett's case?
With Trina Garnett’s case, Stevenson highlights not only how people with intellectual disabilities are mishandled by the justice system, but how people in the United States can be locked up for life for crimes they committed as children.
What chapter does Stevenson write about Trina Garnett?
Chapter Eight: All God’s Children. Stevenson recounts the case of Trina Garnett. She was from a poor area in Chester, Pennsylvania. Trina’s father was extremely abusive to her mother, raping her and beating her. She and her siblings learned to hide from him when he was drunk and prowling around the house to abuse them.
What happened to Trina after her mother died?
After her mother died, her father began sexually abusing her, and so she and her sisters moved to other relatives’ houses, only to find these living situations disrupted by violence, leaving Trina out onto the streets. The desperate circumstances compounded Trina’s emotional and mental health problems.
Who did Ian talk to about the murder of his girlfriend?
Once a month, Ian was allowed a phone call. Ironically, he ended speaking most often to Debbie Baigre, the woman he had shot. During their regular correspondence, Baigre encouraged him to remain strong. After a few years she wrote the court and tried to get Ian’s sentence reduced due to its severity.
What did Trina give birth to?
Trina gave birth to her son while handcuffed to a bed, and the boy was then taken into foster care. By thirty, prison doctors diagnosed Trina with multiple sclerosis, intellectual disability, and mental illness related to trauma.
Who is Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy?
Just Mercy opens with Bryan Stevenson going to visit Henry, his first death row prisoner. Bryan explains how he became passionate about criminal defense law and defending death row prisoners after an internship with the Southern Center for Human Rights in the Deep South. Stevenson discusses how he learned that the American judicial system was built to punish poor citizens more severely than the rich.
Who found the Equal Justice Initiative?
Stevenson founds the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative and takes on McMillian's case to overturn his sentence. In between the chapters that follow both frustrations and promising developments in McMillian's case, Stevenson introduces the cases of other condemned people the EJI has represented.
What did Stevenson learn about the judicial system?
Stevenson discusses how he learned that the American judicial system was built to punish poor citizens more severely than the rich. The narrative turns to the case of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully convicted of killing a white woman and subsequently sentenced to death row.
How did Stevenson end his memoir?
Stevenson ends the memoir by noting how, after rising every year since the 1980s, incarceration rates in 2014 had stabilized. The Supreme Court had also ruled in the EJI's favor, ruling that it is unconstitutional to sentence children to life sentences without parole.
Why did George's mother ask the lawyers to collect his paycheck?
When George’s mother asked the lawyers to collect George’s paycheck (hoping the fact that a poor man hadn’t picked up his money could serve as evidence of his condition), the lawyers instead cashed it for themselves.
What did Stevenson's interaction with Avery suggest?
Stevenson’s interaction with Avery, as well as his background and the circumstances of his crime, suggest that his mental illness and disabilities should have been more obvious to his lawyers. It seems that Avery’s lawyers, like George Daniel’s lawyers, were either uninterested in the outcome of the case or incompetent.
What does Stevenson say to the guard in the courtroom?
Stevenson thanks the guard for speaking with him and he reminds the guard that, “we all need mitigation at some point.”.
What is George Daniel's argument?
He argues that criminalization of the mentally ill is illogical and cruel. Active Themes. George Daniel was a man who developed hallucinations and nonsensical speech after incurring brain damage during a car accident. Before his family could get him medical help, George left town on a bus.
Why was mass institutionalization problematic in the late 1900s?
However, mass institutionalization became problematic because of forced hospitalization, mistreatment, over-drugging, and hospitalization of “socially deviant” individuals such as homosexuals.
What does the white guard tell Stevenson?
The guard tells Stevenson that, like Avery, he grew up in several foster care homes.
What does Stevenson's argument about black people mean?
Stevenson’s argument that any progress for black people is met with an angry white response suggests that the guard’s actions are a reaction to seeing a black man in a position of power, particularly since Stevenson fights for justice on behalf of other vulnerable people.
What is just mercy about?
Just mercy is an extraordinary book, it’s a very powerful truthful story mostly about getting potential for mercy to redeem us and fix this broken system of justice. Bryan Stevenson is a fearless, strong, wise hero who stood for the right things even when some...
Who wrote Just Mercy?
A Critique of Just Mercy, a Book by Bryan Stevenson. Just Mercy In the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Bryan who is an attorney guides us through his life in Alabama and how he helps defend innocent, poor men on death row who were wrongly convicted. Throughout each case, we see how a good...
Why is knowing the context of an experience important?
Knowing the context of any experience is vital in unwrapping it. One has to put him or herself in another person’s situation in order for him or her to understand how the person feels and how the issue at hand affects him or her. This...
Is Just Mercy a real story?
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is almost like a real life version of To Kill A Mockingbird. It is a story of multiple instances where people were wrongly or unfairly convicted. Bryan Stevenson is the lawyer who represents these people free of charge. Many of...
Why is Herbert's case relevant?
This is relevant in Herbert's case because he had no intent to kill the child. The State decided to invoke an unprecedented theory of transferred intent. Which means to make the crime eligible for the death penalty. Herbert argued that this was reckless murder, not capital murder.
Why are the Baltimore riots parallel to the cases in Gadsden?
The Baltimore Riots following the death of Freddie Gray is parallel to the cases in Gadsden because they express what happened for such an uncalled for event that did not need to happen. Describe Stevenson's own interaction with the police in Atlanta and how that affects him (personally and. professionally).
How many people in prison have mental illness?
More than 50 percent of prison and jail inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness, a rate nearly five times greater than that of the general adult population. Several states had a deinstitutionalization rate of over 95 percent. Nearly one in five prison and jail inmates have a serious mental illness.
Who was paid by the sheriff for his testimony?
list at least five discoveries. Proof that an eyewitness, Bill Hooks, was paid by the sheriff for his testimony. Hooks' travel expenses for appearing at Walter's trial were paid by the sheriff, but this was never disclosed. Hooks was released from the Monroe County jail immediately after making his statement condemning Walter.
Was Walter's truck converted to a low rider?
Walter's truck was converted to a low-rider months after the murder despite Hooks testifying that he saw Walter's low-rider parked at the scene of the crime. Perhaps the most significant piece of new evidence: Ralph Myers, the State's main eyewitness, recanted his testimony to Stevenson and O'Connor.
What is just mercy?
Just Mercy is Bryan Stevenson ’s account of his decades-long career as a legal advocate for marginalized people who have been either falsely convicted or harshly sentenced. Though the book contains profiles of many different people, the central storyline is that of the relationship between Stevenson, the organization he founded (the Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI ), and Walter McMillian, a black man wrongfully accused of murder and sentenced to death in Alabama in the late 1980’s. Throughout the book, Stevenson provides historical context, as well as his own moral and philosophical reflections on the American criminal justice and prison systems. He ultimately argues that society should choose empathy and mercy over condemnation and punishment.
Who are the two mentally ill men that EJI unsuccessfully represented during late stages of their cases?
He illustrates his argument with the stories of Herbert Richardson and Jimmy Dill , two mentally ill men that EJI unsuccessfully represented during late stages of their cases. Stevenson tells the stories of both men’s executions and the profound, heartbreaking impact that their deaths had on him.
What is EJI in the movie?
EJI helps Walter to reenter society. Despite his optimism, Walter isn’t the same. He and his wife get separated, and he eventually develops anxiety and dementia related to trauma he experienced on death row. Walter and Stevenson remain friends until Walter’s death.
What is the climax of the story?
The climax of the story occurs shortly after Walter is diagnosed with advancing dementia, on the night that Jimmy Dill is executed. Completely emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed by the persistence of suffering and injustice, Stevenson considers quitting.
What case did EJI win?
EJI ultimately wins two landmark Supreme Court cases banning life sentences for juvenile offenders.
Why did Stevenson write Just Mercy?
Stevenson explains that he wrote Just Mercy to shed light on mass incarceration, extreme punishment, and unfair judgment of others.
How old is Charlie in Chapter 6?
Chapter Six: Surely Doomed. Stevenson’s attention turns to fourteen-year-old Charlie, a good student who killed his mother’s abusive boyfriend and is being held in adult county jail. Before meeting Charlie, Stevenson reviews the incident.
Why is Stevenson unlikely to save Herbert's life?
Stevenson knows he’s unlikely to save Herbert’s life because Supreme Court rulings have made it harder to block executions. Stevenson identifies several issues: Herbert’s case was not a capital murder case; his past trauma should have excluded him from the death penalty; and the death sentence wasn’t imposed with careful consideration. Stevenson obtains a court hearing to present evidence about Herbert’s intent, but the judge refuses the petition. At the hearing, Stevenson meets the victim’s family, who do not believe Herbert should be executed. Stevenson appeals for a stay to the Supreme Court, which is denied only hours before the execution.