Bryan Stevenson writes about his work in Just Mercy. He was raised in a working class African American family. At the age of 16 his grandfather was murdered by kids trying to steal his television. Stevenson did not let this bring him down. He went on to become an attorney with a degree from Harvard Law School. He then went to Georgia to work for the Southern Center for Human Rights and then on to Alabama to start the Equal Justice Initiative. This is where Stevenson writes about the most of the work he has done for prisoners on death row, fighting the death penalty and life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders, and confronted abuse of the mentally ill, the mentally handicapped and children in prison. Just Mercy is an easy read to dive into. The stories that are told within the book are captivating, and can ultimately change the way the justice system is thought of.
Stevenson addresses many issues that came up within his work for the Equal Justice Initiative. He discusses the flaws within the justice system, and the unfairness when it comes to civil rights. One case of his that he discusses in the book that he is extremely proud of is the case of Walter McMillian. Walter McMillian was a man convicted of murdering a girl on testimonies that were fabricated and almost hard for anyone to believe. Despite having alibi witnesses, including an officer, that placed him eleven miles from the scene of the crime, he was still convicted and was places on death row prior to being convicted. The jury in his case found him guilty and ruled for life in prison. However, Judge Robert E. Lee Key overrode the jury’s recommendation and sentenced McMillian to Death. Stevenson could not believe that a jury would find McMillian guilty on such a preposterous fabrication of evidence.
Stevenson fought hard to get the conviction overturned and to get a new trial, but ultimately kept getting turned down. He finally turned to a last resort. Stevenson went on “60 Minutes,” and they aired a segment on Walter McMillian’s case in 1992. Three months after the segment aired, Alabama court of Appeals granted McMillian a new trial. A few days after a new trial was granted, the prosecution dropped the charges against McMillian. Had Stevenson gave up his fight for McMillian after the many devastating denials, and not gone to “60 Minutes” an innocent man would have been killed.
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The McMillian case raises many criminal justice questions. It raises questions about the ethics of the police officers involved in the case. They pushed and fabricated testimonies to put an innocent man on death row. It can make people wonder, if there is a murder case, where the public is putting pressure on the police to make an arrest, would all officers violate their ethics and lie just to put someone behind bars for the murder, even if they are innocent? The officers got one suspect they could easily put the blame on for the murder and fabricated evidence to put him away mainly to satisfy the community.
The McMillian case also raised procedural questions. The officers put McMillian on death row before he had even been convicted. This is not procedure, and it raises the question, why would they go about this case this way? It also raises policy questions with the judge overruling the jury’s decision and giving McMillian the death penalty. It is legal in Alabama for the judge to do that, however it is rare for it to happen. McMillian had faith during his trial that he would be found innocent because he was, and he had witnesses to prove where he was at the time. He did not think anyone could believe the lies that were being told to convict him. The whole justice system in the McMillian case was flawed and it failed to protect an innocent man from getting put in jail, and it almost causes an innocent man to be put to death.
The McMillian case should have been handled differently from the beginning. If it had, then Stevenson probably would have never had to of been involved. If law enforcement had done its job, then McMillian would have never been convicted. If the prosecution would have done what was right, then he probably would not have been convicted. If his first defense team had done a better job of discrediting the witnesses and breaking down the prosecution’s case, then McMillian may have not been convicted. When Stevenson went to the new prosecutor about the case, the prosecutor should have seen what went wrong with the McMillian case, and should have worked with Stevenson. Many things about this case should have been done different. The only thing that seemed to have been done right was Stevenson’s fight for McMillian.
Stevenson had many victories like McMillian, but he also had many defeats as well. One in particular that is talked about is Michael Lindsey. He was sent to death row for murdering a white woman. Lindsey was African American. When the victim is white and the person who committed the crime is black, they tend to get harsher sentences than if their races were reversed. Like McMillians case, Lindsey’s jury recommended a life sentence, but the judge overruled and sentenced him to death instead. Stevenson fought for clemency for Lindsey because the jury had wanted him to live, but he was denied and Lindsey got the chair. Despite Stevenson’s defeats, he still fought against the issue of the death penalty.
