THE OPPOSITE OF POVERTY IS NOT WEALTH BUT JUSTICE

Kritika Sureka1

OVERVIEW

Bryan Stevenson, is the forefather and executive head of the who fought and litigated on behalf of people who are denied from operational representation, condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, also the issue of the imprisonment of children as young adult in American prisons and also other trials which are marked by challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. He and his team focused on the youngest children facing sentence for non-homicide crimes which has recently won an historic and remarkable ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court giving a new light to the existing law by holding that it is mandatory for all children 17 or below, sentence of without parole would be held unconstitutional.

Thus “” is a story of an activist lawyer whose struggle against injustice is memoir and personalized. Unfairness in justice system is a central theme of the book. It is a story Based on journey of one of the most brilliant and influential lawyer for the potential for mercy and to fix our broken system of justice. Stevenson tells stories of deep-seated and widespread injustice, instances of human compassion, mercy, and justice that offer hope. Injustice is not easy to notice till it is affecting people different from ourselves and tries to explain the reason for inequality in our own generation and the need to wake up. Numerous examples of judicial misconduct destruction of evidence is sited in his book. “Just Mercy” is a motivation and direction for young lawyers coming of age to follow the path of truth, fairness and equality, also it is a remarkable account of ideas, and compassion for the pursuit of true justice.

1 2nd year BA LLB Student.

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OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTERS

Chapter 1: Mockingbird Players

Bryan Stevenson is a member of the bar in both and Georgia. In Monroe County, Alabama, Ronda Morrison, a beloved eighteen-year-old white woman is brutally murdered with very little evidence pointing toward a perpetrator, thus, putting police under great pressure to find the perpetrators of the crime and solve this mystery. The blame of the murder was over Walter McMillian. Thus the story of Walter McMillian is set up, who had an interracial extra- marital affair with a white young woman because of which he got himself targeted as a suspect for a murder of white young woman in the laundry store.

Chapter 2: Stand Stevenson has also described 2 cases where black men died at the hands of the police in Gadsden, Alabama. He thought rather waging a war with the bureaucracy of the Atlanta police force, they should work directly with or for those who are at the greatest risk—poor and young black men by interacting directly with them at youth groups, churches, and community organizations.

Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

This chapter talks about Walter McMillian’s arrest, the days leading up to his trial, the trial itself, and the verdict. Also, how his confrontation with an old man in a wheel chair motivated him to fight for justice. But Mc Millan ended up in the death row.

Chapter 4: The Old Rugged Cross

It has described several death cases including Horace Dunkins, a blandly retarded man, and how wrongly placed electrodes took his execution a second jolt. Also a PTSD veteran to win the heart of his girlfriend unintentionally killed a child when he picked up the bomb. Also this

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chapter highlights the difficulties faced by many U.S. military veterans in obtaining medical support.

Chapter 5: Of the Coming of John

Stevenson took the case of Walter and met his extended family members. The family is in disbelief that Walter has been found guilty since at the exact time of Ronda Morrison’s murder he was with them. The accused was harassed and arrested by the police as a warning shot.

Chapter 6: Surely Doomed

The author is narrating how a juvenile is being treated and tried as an adult. A 14 years old boy Charlie is facing charges of capital murder in an Alabama jail which is been bared by the supreme court. When Stevenson met Charlie at the adult prison, Charlie was in trauma from being raped by several men in the prison. Stevenson succeeds in having Charlie relocated and the story ends up with good ending as a nice old couple from a church, started writing letters to Charlie in the detention center, and over time they became very close and shared important bond with Charlie encouraging him to earn his degree, and later financing his college education.

Chapter 7: Justice Denied

The chapter is about both a setback and a break. Getting withdrawal of the testimony of Bill Myer gave McMillian’s case a break and look.

Chapter 8: All God’s Children:-

This chapter enumerates lives of three child: Trina Garnet who has served 38 years in prison and her story was described – a sad case of poor, broken, large family, at age of 9 she lost her mother. At 14 in order to escape from her father’s sexual abuse she ran away from home and

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unfortunately found herself in jail for causing death of 2 boys’. In the jail, she had mental and physical health issues and had survived a rape by a prison guard and became pregnant. Then there is this Ian Manuel’s story who was incarcerated at the age of 14 and serving life sentence and was placed in solitary confinement, where he remained for eighteen years for shooting a victim in a failed robbery attempt. Stevenson decides to work on appeals for each of them.

Chapter 9: I’m her

Stevenson described the hearing on McMillian’s case. Trial begins. This was the turning point whereby the accuser withdraws in front of judge and other witnesses were examined.

Chapter 10: Mitigation

The imprisonment of thousands of poor and mentally ill people is the central subject of this chapter. The statistic shows that over 50% of prison and jail inmates are mentally ill. It is stunning because it is more than three times higher than in hospitals. Corrections officers are not always well trained to handle mental-health issues. George Daniel suffered a head drama during a car accident and became disoriented after being kicked out of a bus. During a struggle he accidentally shot a police officer. After being diagnosed he was given the death sentence competent to stand trial by a fake doctor. The story of Avery Jenkins, raised as a foster child in many foster families due to his mental illness. During the visit by Stevenson, he used to keep on asking for a chocolate milk shake, facing difficulty in passing the white prison guard. Stevenson is able to have a retrial for Jenkins, who is removed from death row and placed in a facility better equipped to deal with his mental health.

Chapter 11: I’ll Fly Away

Back to Walter McMillian’s case, Stevenson got in television program to cover the McMillian trial and finally won the freedom for Walter and his returns to his family and community.

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Chapter 12: Mother, Mother

Marsha Colbey delivered a stillborn baby and they buried infant next to their temporary shelter. Marsha was swiftly arrested for being a baby killer serving a life sentence and ended up serving 10 years of imprisonment after Stevenson’s successful appeal.

Chapter 13: Recovery

Walter McMillian is released from prison and was facing new challenges like the financial aspect which he needed to get back on his feet. His mental state deteriorated.

Chapter 14: Cruel and Unusual

Joe Sullivan was a 13 year-old with mental disabilities and was convicted for the rape assault, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for a crime he did not commit. And he became ill and attempted suicide several times, he became wheelchair bound. Here the battle of Stevenson with the Supreme Court to ban life sentence for juvenile offenders has also been described.

Chapter 15: Broken

Walter suffered with a trauma diagnosed with dementia and his health started deteriorating. He was “broken”. Another instance was Jimmy Dill being executed despite Stevenson’s gallant effort who was suffering from a severe intellectual disability and stuttering problem that brought him back to his childhood memory. At this point, Stevenson was “broken” too.” Stevenson also discuss his memory of encounter with Rosa Parks and the remarkable conversation they had.

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Chapter 16: ‘The Stone catchers’ Song of Sorrow

Stevenson in May of 2010 celebrated the victory of winning the Supreme Court’s decision on banning “life imprisonment without parole imposed on children convicted of non-homicide crimes is cruel and unusual punishment and constitutionally impermissible”2. His initiative and effort has started making a chain effect across the country. More than 2,000 condemned people were potentially eligible for relief or reduce sentences who were sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for crimes committed by them when they were young

CONCLUSION

Through this novel Stevenson tried to share the following thoughts to people like Walter and also to the world that:

• The death penalty sentence is not about whether the offender deserves to die for the crimes he has committed but rather position of capital punishment in the country is, do we deserve to kill?

• Mercy is just when it is freely given and rooted in hopefulness. Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving.

Just Mercy is an excellent book full of intrigues and twists which shows how a disadvantaged person especially if they are poor, young without direction, women and just being black, or in his words – “broken.” can get in trouble in this legal justice systems. I’m not sure whether he and his Equal Justice Initiative can save all but his initiative will definitely make a difference in turning the tide. Bryan Stevenson has become one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and powerful advocate for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories enumerated in the pages hold the potential to transform our perception about the whole idea of justice and applicability. This great book has helped people to change their mind set about capital punishment with help of few good and real stories with both good and bad endings. After knowing people like Bryan Stevenson still exist in the world makes me hopeful

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and cheer up that we have real heroes in our society to save and protect us from the evil and unjust things.

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Just Mercy - A Story of Justice and Redemption

Author - Bryan Stevenson

Publication date - 23 Oct 2014

Publisher - Random House USA Inc.

Publication City/Country - New York, United States

Language - English

ISBN10 - 0812994523

ISBN13 – 9780812994520

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