Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent–strong enough to break the cycle of victimization and victimhood, retribution and suffering. It has the power to heal the psychic harm and injuries that lead to aggression and violence, abuse of power, mass incarceration. Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy [p. 293]

Bryan Stevenson states that Just Mercy is about “getting close to mass incarceration and extreme punishment in America. It is about how easily we condemn people in this country and the injustice we create when we allow fear, anger, and distance to shape the way we treat the most vulnerable among us.” Mr. Stevenson brings us close to mass incarceration and extreme punishment by introducing us to the clients he defended in Georgia and Alabama early in his career. We walk into the prisons with him and hear the stories of marginalized and excluded individuals who are experiencing daily trauma at the hands of who are supposed to be protecting them. Each of them, like us, is “more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.” This is a deeply disturbing book, but I believe it’s a must read as it possesses the power to forever alter one’s belief in the potential of all human beings, and our capacity for redemption, forgiveness, and hopefulness.

The author states that “the opposite of poverty is not wealth but justice. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.” His compassion for all is evident in his work with his clients, among them: Herbert Richardson, a condemned black man who receives no support for mental health issues he demonstrates during and after serving in Vietnam; Walter McMillian wrongful convicted on perjured testimony and by law enforcement cover-up; and Charlie, a fourteen-year-old convicted of murdering his mother’s abusive boyfriend and sent to an adult prison where he is repeatedly raped by other inmates.

How does Mr. Stevenson continue his fight for justice and mercy? Inspiration comes from those who came before him. One is his grandmother who told him “You can’t understand the important things from a distance. You have to get close.” Others are brave fighters like the individual quoted below, whom Mr. Stevenson meets while speaking at a small southern African American church.

“You see this scar on the top of my head?” He tilted his head to show me. “I got that scar in Greene County, Alabama, trying to register to vote in 1964. You see this scar on the side of my head?” He turned his head to the left and I saw a four-inch scar just above his right ear. “I got that scar in Mississippi demanding civil rights.”
His voice grew stronger. He tightened his grip on my arm and lowered his head some more. “You see that mark?” There was a dark circle at the base of his skull. “I got that bruise in Birmingham after the Children’s Crusade.”
He leaned back and looked at me intensely. “People think these are my scars, cuts, and bruises.”
For the first time I noticed that his eyes were wet with tears. He placed his hands on his head. “These aren’t my scars, cuts, and bruises. These are my medals of honor.”
He stared at me for a long moment, wiped his eyes and nodded to the boy, who wheeled him away. [p. 46]

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