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Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Bryan Stevenson
2014, 336 pages
Nonfiction
Just Mercy is about Bryan Stevenson’s work as the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. EJI works to free the wrongly incarcerated, especially those on death row, and to bring about reform in a justice system that “continues to treat people better if they are rich and guilty than if they are poor and innocent.” The book is remarkable not only because it is appalling that in the nation founded on principles of “liberty and justice for all” we have such a broken system, but also because the tireless work Stevenson and his colleagues do and the injustices they attempt to right go largely unnoticed.
Stevenson writes passionately about some of the prisoners who have changed his life. He writes of their inpidual circumstances and also of the broad and shocking statistics that bear witness to the lack of justice available to the poor, disabled, mentally ill, women, children, and minorities in our justice system. Stevenson also writes eloquently about being afraid, angry, and broken: “You can’t effectively fight abusive power, poverty, inequality, illness, oppression, and injustice and not be broken by it.” While Stevenson suggests, and has brought about, many specific reforms, his prescription for ending injustice is so simple that anyone can follow it: “We have a choice. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing.” This simple choice is what changed Bryan Stevenson’s life and the lives of countless others who have benefited from his important work. Just Mercy is a moving, inspiring book for fans of Mountains Beyond Mountains and other profiles of inpiduals making a difference.
