"Just Mercy - A Story of Justice and Redemption"

"Just Mercy - A Story of Justice and Redemption" by attorney, Bryan Stevenson is a powerful read.  It was also a difficult read for me because of the subject matter so I'm very glad I had just finished a lighter book, "The Rosie Project."  Stevenson is the Executive Director (and the initial force behind) the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.  He's also a law professor at New York University Law School.

Stevenson's story starts with him deciding to go to law school after studying philosophy in college.  When he realized he couldn't make a living philosophizing, he applied and was  accepted to Harvard law school.  His plan was to study law while pursuing a graduate degree in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government.  In 1983 at age twenty-three he ended up in Georgia on an internship.  He'd never been in a maximum-security prison let alone on death row but he was sent alone to meet with a condemned prisoner.  That internship changed his life and I am sure the lives of a lot of the people he's been able to help along the way.

Stevenson found himself providing legal aid to condemned prisoners (who had not received fair trials) as their execution dates were approaching.  His most high profile case was probably that of Walter McMillan, a black man accused of a murder (or set up for it) when he had an iron clad alibi.  Although it was a long time coming, Stevenson and his staff were able to get his sentence overturned and free him after ten years on death row.  However, there were many who didn't even get the chance to have their cases retried despite discrepancies at their trials.  I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to get to know these individuals and not to be able to help every one of them.

Equal Justice Initiative (or known as EJI) was selected for the Olof Palme International Human Rights Award after McMillan was freed.  Stevenson was invited to Stockholm to receive it.

Stevenson had a lot on his plate - In addition to helping death row clients, EJI was "challenging excessive punishments, helping disabled prisoners, assisting children incarcerated in the adult system, and looking at ways to expose racial bias, discrimination against the poor, and the abuse of power."  He found it overwhelming but also gratifying.  A conservative Congress in 1994 eliminated federal funding for legal aid to death row prisoners so in addition to his case load and teaching he added fundraising to his duties.  There's never any mention of a wife or family and given the traveling he did around the United States working on cases and speaking to groups I don't see how he would have had time for a private life.  However, he didn't abandon those that he was trying to help.  He always found time to sit with them when he visited the prison as long as they needed him to be with them.  After Walter was freed, he kept in close contact with him, too, so all of them may have been his family.

Even though I was aware of it I was still appalled to learn what a big business prisons are for private businesses and the amount of money they spend trying to get tighter sentences for even small offenses and to lobby so more prisons are built, more prisoners interned in order for them to make money.  There is definitely something wrong with our justice system and the poor and disenfranchised pay the highest price for it and have the least resources for health care and legal aid.

There is a particularly poignant passage in the book in a chapter called "Broken" where one of Stevenson's clients is executed and he is on the phone with him right up to the time he is taken to the execution chamber.  The prisoner thanks him for all he's done for him but Stevenson questions why he's done this work for twenty-five years.

Stevenson had the privilege of meeting some of the activists in the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery and Rosa Parks when she came to visit her friends.  When she asks him what he does and he gives her his lengthy spiel, she says:  "Ooooh, honey, all that's going to make you tired, tired, tired."  One of the other ladies tells him:  "That's why you've got to be brave, brave, brave."  He said for a little while those three ladies made him feel like a young prince.

There are some amazing people that Stevenson has met over the years who have had an impact on his life and all those stories gave me hope.  Although reading this has made me very sad at times -- so sad that I've had to put the book aside for a while but, like I said, parts have also given me hope and this is a project I want to help support.  Go to www.eji.org to learn more about the Equal Justice Initiative and the work they do and some of their newer projects.  pazt