Wow.
Just… wow.
I was so excited to pick up this book when both of my book clubs—yes, I’m in two—decided to tackle Just Mercy as our month’s read. First impressions: Wow.
Second impressions… stomach aches.
Yep. Reading Just Mercy made me sick to my stomach as it shed light on numerous, absolutely abhorrent cases of injustice and the horrible treatment of people of color in our justice system. It also hardened and strengthened my resolve to play a more active role in making changes I think our country desperately needs. As such, before I go further in this review, please consider donating to the Equal Justice Initiative! You can learn more about them here and donate to them using the button below if you find them to be a worthwhile cause.
Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Mercy and Redemption, takes on the task of sharing his experience working with the wrongly condemned and people who can’t afford proper legal representation in the 1980s and onward. The majority of whom are on death row.
It is a poignant read, made all the more unforgettable by the way in which Bryan writes; both eloquently engaging and direct. Chapters switch between past stories and present facts, but the act is seamless.
The first half of the book is… tough. I constantly found myself putting the book down to digest what I’d learned, and, if I’m being completely honest, to give myself a break from the harsh truths I was having to confront. Despite my struggle, this book was well worth the discomfort it brought me because it also gave me hope. Just Mercy opened my eyes to a subject I wasn’t wholly familiar with, and it changed me for the better.
I’ve been fortunate enough to discuss Just Mercy outside my bookclubs with close friends and have had some pretty serious discussions. I’ve been even more fortunate to have discussed the issues raised in Just Mercy with friends who hold an opposing stance on the death penalty and our justice system because they’ve inspired me to dig deeper into this topic to become a better advocate for what I now believe: capital punishment must be abolished.
If you have any book recommendations that can help me dig a little deeper, drop a comment below!
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.