Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy
Many people go their day to day lives assuming that the United States justice system is infallible in assuring swift and concise justice, but that isn’t true. In the novel Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption Bryan Stevenson, leader and founder of the Equal Rights Initiative, exposes the truths behind the misguided and corrupt legal system in place. Stevenson recanting tales of his numerous cases in order to ensure his clients receive legal aid in attempt to rid them of cruel and unusual sentences serves to teach readers of how racism and prejudice controlled the justice system. If I were born differently this novel might have had a contrasting effect on me than it did. Instead, I realized how privileged I was to grow up in a kind,
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If I had been born to an African-American family or any other ethnicity other than white, I might have received harsher treatment from people because they figured that the color of my skin determined what kind of person I was. For example, in Herbert Richardson’s case “After striking all of the black prospective jurors in a county of 28 percent black, the prosecutor told the all-white jury in his closing argument that a conviction was appropriate because Herbert was “Associated with Black Muslims from New York City” and deserved no mercy” The blatant disregard of Herbert’s character and the abuse of power to create a racially biased jury by the prosecutor is a key example of racism and prejudice to religion and where people live. It is overwhelming to see just how far our court system is willing to go in order to reach a guilty sentence for people of color. What’s worse is when the law prohibits contact between people of races. According to the Alabama Supreme Court, in 1882, they deemed interracial romance as illegal. “The evil tendency of the crime [of adultery or fornication] is greater when committed between persons of the two races. . .” At that point the court systems controlled who we could or could not marry and deeming it illegal to have an interracial partner. However, today it is not uncommon to see interracial relationships or even homosexual relationships and receive little to no disrespect depending where you
If I had been born to an African-American family or any other ethnicity other than white, I might have received harsher treatment from people because they figured that the color of my skin determined what kind of person I was. For example, in Herbert Richardson’s case “After striking all of the black prospective jurors in a county of 28 percent black, the prosecutor told the all-white jury in his closing argument that a conviction was appropriate because Herbert was “Associated with Black Muslims from New York City” and deserved no mercy” The blatant disregard of Herbert’s character and the abuse of power to create a racially biased jury by the prosecutor is a key example of racism and prejudice to religion and where people live. It is overwhelming to see just how far our court system is willing to go in order to reach a guilty sentence for people of color. What’s worse is when the law prohibits contact between people of races. According to the Alabama Supreme Court, in 1882, they deemed interracial romance as illegal. “The evil tendency of the crime [of adultery or fornication] is greater when committed between persons of the two races. . .” At that point the court systems controlled who we could or could not marry and deeming it illegal to have an interracial partner. However, today it is not uncommon to see interracial relationships or even homosexual relationships and receive little to no disrespect depending where you