I have been putting off finishing Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson for over a month because I knew that with such an amazing, beautiful, provocative book, I would have to write up my thoughts. While this book was certainly a 5 out of 5, it was certainly not an easy read: this was not because it was inaccessible, too technical, or too long. It also was not because it was sad (which it was), heart-wrenching (that too), or even because of the countless cases of racism, and injustice laid out by Mr. Stevenson (my god, were so many cases brought up that just tear you apart); the difficulty came in the fact that so much of this is still happening. While many of the cases in Just Mercy were remnants of an older, more-racist and unjust past, far too many were from cases that are still being fought today.

I cannot give a more ringing endorsement for everyone to read this book. Every single American should be required to read this book. It is a testament to the strides that crusaders such as Mr. Stevenson are making in the United States. But even more, it speaks to the many topics that are rife for being attacked as institutions that the good people of the U.S will no longer tolerate: racism, the ineffectiveness of our current judiciary system and imprisonments, and the current state of tribalism and hate that has recently come to surface.

“I may be old, I may be poor, I may be black but I’m here. I’m here because I’ve got this vision of justice that compels me to be a witness. I’m here because I’m supposed to be here. I’m here because you can’t keep me away.”

Just Mercy weaves through these topics by following Mr. Stevenson’s own story as a proponent for fair treatment in the judicial system through his group the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI – https://eji.org/). He is a lawyer working in Montgomery, AL fighting justice all over the country. A plethora of cases are recounted throughout the book, varying from people who were wrongfully accused because of racist motives; to his fight against the death penalty, and life sentences for teenagers. While I certainly cannot discuss all of the cases, I will review some of the main topics. As these are hot topics that can be toxic at times, I feel that they need to be broached, and I will use some of the cases from Just Mercy to do this. This may end up being much longer and more in depth than is wise, but all I ask is that you be civil when reading through these ideas. Any quote not otherwise ascribed is directly from the book. I implore each and every one of you to check out the book, and now, let’s dive into this sticky, dangerous pool: I just hope that we all make it out alive and not too much worse for wear. Hopefully this can make some waves that may spur some change. As a woman tells Mr. Stevenson in the book: “You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance, Bryan. You have to get close…” 

What Are We Seeking From Imprisonment?

As some of these topics are going to be very difficult to discuss, let’s first discuss the reason for imprisonment as it might be the least controversial. If nothing else, I figure many people might figure out that they can’t stand my views here before we get really into the weeds.

“It all felt tragic. His struggle to form words and his determination to express gratitude reinforced his humanity for me, and it made thinking about his impending execution unbearable. Why couldn’t they see it, too? The Supreme Court had banned the execution of people with intellectual disability, but states like Alabama refused to assess in any honest way whether the condemned are disabled. We’re supposed to sentence people fairly after fully considering their life circumstances, but instead we exploit the inability of the poor to get the legal assistance they need – all so we can kill them with less resistance.”

The current law enforcement system – including the judiciary, prison system, capital punishment, sentencing, death penalty, etc. – is broken. From the majority of people I speak with, this actually isn’t even a bold statement or unpopular opinion. I think that most people would look at what is happening in jails, policy, and policing and would agree that things have moved far away from the goal. I think the first thing that needs to be asked (that is rarely brought up) is what is our goal for jails and prisons? The answer to this will greatly impact the way to attack a reform. I would say that the two largest – but diametrically opposing – goals for imprisonment would be 1) for punishment, i.e. vindictiveness or 2) for rehabilitation.

Currently, the United States leans pretty heavily towards the vindictive side: looking more for punishment, than an actual wish to make the law breakers into better and more upstanding citizens. Just look at the name commonly attributed to the system: penal. According to Merriam Webster, penal is “of, relating to, or involving punishment, penalties, or punitive institutions.” This system is meant to seek retribution from the people who have wronged others in society. Unfortunately, this has led to a ballooning in almost all conceivable metrics for these institutions:

“Spending on jails and prisons by state and federal governments has risen from $6.9 billion in 1980 to nearly $80 billion [in 2014].”

“State governments have been forced to shift funds from public services, education, health, and welfare to pay for incarceration, and they now face unprecedented economic crises as a result.”

“There are more than a half-million people in state or federal prisons for drug offenses today, up from just 41,000 in 1980.”

“Today, over 50 percent of prison and jail inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness, a rate of nearly five times greater than that of the general adult population. Nearly one in five prison and jail inmates has a serious mental illness. In fact, there are more than three times the number of seriously mentally ill individuals in jail or prison than in hospitals; in some states that number is ten times.”

The population has exploded, affecting other aspects of the government as it is almost impossible for states to financially support these people.

Our government needs to seriously look at deciding that rehabilitation is a much better path than merely putting these people away. You can only stow them away for so long.

“But simply punishing the broken – walking away from them or hiding them from sight – only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too. There is no wholeness outside of our reciprocal humanity.”

I do not want to get into discussions about any specific laws or choices for this topic, but looking at ideas like 3-strike, minimum sentencing, and the “War on Drugs” often do much more harm than good, as countless people are sent into an atmosphere where even the most upright citizens can be sucked into toxic associations and a sense of survival. This system takes a toll on the general society once these people are released without the proper support system. Please remember, as Mr. Stevenson says: “Whenever things got really bad, and they were questioning the value of their lives, I would remind them that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”

“I began thinking about what would happen if we all just acknowledged our brokenness, if we owned up to our weaknesses, our deficits, our biases, our fears. Maybe if we did, we wouldn’t want to kill the broken among us who have killed others. Maybe we would look harder for solutions to caring for the disabled, the abused, the neglected, and the traumatized. I had a notion that if we acknowledged our brokenness, we could no longer take pride in mass incarceration, in executing people, in our deliberate indifference to the most vulnerable.”

Youth Imprisonment

(check out https://eji.org/reports/cruel-and-unusual for a report written by Mr. Stevenson and his colleagues about youth imprisonment)

“Many states had changed their laws to make it easier to prosecute children as adults, and my clients were getting younger and younger. Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state – or any other country in the world.”

The other unfortunate outcome of the large move to have more increased policing and stronger sentencing that came about from the wish for strong punishments is that even teenagers are caught up in this web. Almost any parent or adult who has dealt with adolescents will attest that their reasoning is often flawed and with their hormones working so hard, they often have lapses of judgement or thinking. Unfortunately, this thinking apparently suffers a disconnect when talking about teen offenders. Just Mercy talks about Mr. Stevenson’s many cases where teens – some as young as thirteen or fourteen – have been sentenced to life imprisonment without any chance of parole. While thanks to Mr. Stevenson’s hard fought battle with the Supreme Court, it has been deemed unconstitutional to give teens sentences without any chance for release, there are still people who have already been sentenced who will be imprisoned either until their death, or someone takes on their case to release these teenage offenders who have been in jail sometimes for decades.

“[I]n 2014, Trina turned fifty-two. She has been in prison for thirty-eight years. She is one of nearly five-hundred people in Pennsylvania who have been condemned to mandatory life imprisonment without parole for crimes they were accused of committing when they were between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.”

“By 2010, Florida had sentenced more than a hundred children to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses, several of whom were thirteen years old at the time of the crime. All of the youngest condemned children – thirteen or fourteen years of age – were black or Latino.”

One particular case stuck out as a sad testament to so many people’s willingness to send people to death. In this case, George Stinney – a 14 year old black child – was convicted of rape and murder simply because he had told another volunteer searching for two white girls’ bodies that he had seen them on the day of their disappearance. This strongly disturbing case will be a good Segway into the most difficult discussion brought up in the book: racism.

“…Governor Olin Johnston refused to intervene and George was sent to Columbia to be executed in South Carolina’s electric chair. Small even for his age, the five foot two, ninety-two-pound Stinney walked up to the chair with a Bible in his hand. He had to sit on the book when prison staff couldn’t fit the electrodes to his small frame. Alone in the room, with no family or any people of color present, the terrified child sat in the oversized electric chair. He frantically searched the room for someone to help but saw only law enforcement personnel and reporters. The adult-size mask slid off George’s face when the first jolt of electricity struck his body. Witnesses to the execution could see his ‘wide open, tearful eyes and saliva dripping from his mouth.’ Eighty-one days after being approached by two young girls about where flowers might be found, George Stinney was pronounced dead.”

Racism in the Judiciary System

“One in every fifteen people born in the United States in 2001 is expected to go to jail or prison; one in every three black male babies born in this century is expected to be incarcerated.”

“The study conducted for [McCleskey v. Kemp] revealed that offenders in Georgia were eleven times more likely to get the death penalty if the victim was white than if the victim was black. Those findings were replicated in every other state where studies about race and the death penalty took place. In Alabama, even though 65 percent of all homicide victims were black, nearly 80 percent of the people on death row were there for crimes against victims who were white.”

The above quotes are hard to read. Over and over again, there is clear evidence that people of color are not only imprisoned more, but are also put to death more often. This is a clear miscarriage of justice. Throughout Just Mercy, Mr. Stevenson talks about a wide variety of cases that have either occurred completely because of racism, or at least have been exacerbated by it. The below quote is from Walter McMillian: a black man accused of murdering a white woman mainly because he had been seen with another white woman in town, upsetting the people because of their interracial relationship. He was sent to death row and was there for six years completely on forced testimony – wide-reaching conspiracy by many officials were shown throughout this case – that was completely made up. With the help of Mr. Stevenson, Walter is finally freed but he had to suffer in some of the hardest conditions in imprisonment in the meantime:

“‘Six years, six years gone.’ He looked away with a pained expression. ‘These six years feel like fifty. Six years, just gone. I’ve been so worried that they were going to kill me, I haven’t even thought about the time I’ve lost.’”

How would any of us feel about having six years of our lives robbed merely off of allegations that were completely made up? What trust in the system would you have left?

When Mr. Stevenson first comes down to work in the South he comes home very late from the office one night. As he is sitting in his car, a cop comes over, and accosts him and even pulls his gun on him. One of the most telling parts of the whole book is his thoughts about this encounter with the policeman:

“I started writing my complaint determined not to reveal that I was an attorney. When I replayed the whole incident in my mind, what bothered me most was the moment when the officer drew his weapon and I thought about running. I was a twenty-eight year old lawyer who had worked on police misconduct cases. I had the judgement to speak calmly to the officer when he threatened to shoot me. When I thought about what I would have done when I was sixteen years old or nineteen or even twenty-four, I was scared to realize that I might have run. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I became about all the young black boys and men in the neighborhood. Did they know not to run? Did they know to stay calm and say, ‘It’s okay’?”

This story brings up the issue of how you would react when a gun is pulled on you when you are not doing anything wrong? Yes, people will say that they have nothing to hide, but the minute a gun is pulled, proper thinking goes out the window: fight-or-flight thinking comes in. It is just lucky that his past education led him to know how to handle this situation, but what about those who don’t?

So What is There To Do?

Before broaching as difficult of a topic as racism, I think a few things need to be addressed more broadly:

• • • Only once a problem can be named and seen as an issue to be addressed can solutions come about
    • These solutions will only come about when people from both sides have productive conversations
    • Productive conversations begin when people come together in good faith that both sides want similar goals: in the case of racism, this would mean eventual equality of all people – as Martin Luther King Jr said: “where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”
    • This good faith should also mean that when accusations are made, they are truly believed and investigated, not vehemently opposed as something that would never happen
    • Lastly, EVERYONE should be imploring officials to have cases of corruption or wrongdoing investigated. These are not – or at least in what I am proposing, should not – be cases of witch-hunts. The goal of investigations is not to find wrongdoing – it is to find the TRUTH!

First, in order to properly deal with any issue that has arisen in any system the problem must be named and actually viewed as a topic that must be discussed and a solution reached. The current environment where racism is dealt with on two extremes: the first where it is completely denied and is stated as a past, serious issue, but one which humans (or at the very least Americans) have triumphed; and the second, where everyone in America is a racist bigot, especially all white people with any power or influence, is not one where honest conversations can be had. I would argue that both of these sides are completely inaccurate. As is so often the case, it is never as easy as being black and white; in this case, it is gray to an extreme. This means that honesty must be of the utmost importance as we deal in the world.

I think that one of the ideas that bothers me the most in today’s environment is the idea of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. So what bothers me most about this hashtag? The fact that there is controversy about it! OF COURSE BLACK LIVES MATTER!! The fact that there was an immediate backlash against this with tweets of #BlueLivesMatter or #AllLivesMatter just sickens me. This hashtag doesn’t say #BlackLivesMatterMore or #CopsDon’tMatter. When a statement that black lives matter is controversial, I am questioning everything that I was taught as a child. The reaction of this hashtag should have been DAMN RIGHT, THEY DO! We were taught – at least in Iowa and Kansas – that this country has fought to achieve equality among people and that we have come a long way. Of course there is more to do, but we were taught that we were doing pretty well. If it is controversial to say that black lives even matter I am wondering where we are left to stand. I hope that the aversion to this hashtag is because of some of the violent protests and such that accompanied this movement. If this is the case: I understand that as I stand strongly behind non-violent protests and truly believe violence begets violence.

But if you have an aversion to the statement that Black Lives Matter for any other reason than violence caused by it, I would implore you to begin a dialogue with the people around you: this needs to be looked at. Of course every single life matters, this not up for debate. The issue with counter-protesting #BlackLivesMatter with #AllLivesMatter as innocent black men have been shown on video being wrongfully killed is one of understanding the current climate. Yes, all lives matter, but currently “all” lives are not being gunned down because of racism. If you are my neighbor and your house is on fire, I am not going to demand the fire department to come spray an equal amount of water on my house because “all houses matter” – that would be insane. In the current climate, black men are being wrongfully shot because of racist cops: it’s happening right before our eyes and these instances need to be reviewed to see what circumstances surround them and if the cops are racist, they need to be brought to justice.

The important thing to realize, though, is that not every black man who is killed by a white cop is a victim of a hate crime! When investigations are truly done fairly, they may uncover that a shooting has nothing to do with racism. Being a cop is an incredibly hard job: these men and women are highly underpaid and overworked. They are looked at under microscopes nowadays that take away their ability to properly do their jobs. This is the other important side of investigating racist claims. Good cops who are accused also need to be vindicated if they are only doing their job and upholding the law. Please realize that just because someone from one race commits an act of violence, or a crime against another race does not mean it is automatically racist. EVERYONE should want a “just” justice system. This can only occur once honest investigations and discussions begin.

Racism in General

What makes our current climate in America more difficult though is that racism is not just occurring in our judiciary system, it is happening all around us. And from statements that I hear and some of the recent happenings in America, I fear that seems to be either increasing, or at least its proponents are becoming more outspoken. Racism is often fed by tribalism, fear and hate. The current climate in the U.S. is rife with these emotions.

One of the most disgusting quotes from the book is the below about interracial marriage:

“Even though the restriction couldn’t be enforced under federal law, the state ban in interracial marriage in Alabama continued into the twenty-first century. In 2000, reformers finally had enough votes to get the issue on the statewide ballot, where a majority of voters chose to eliminate the ban, although 41 percent voted to keep it.”

When a state will not change a blatantly racist law until the 2000’s, it shows that racism is still very much alive in America. After 8 years with President Barack Obama, I fear that we are falling back into something that occurred after the Civil Rights Era:

“In fact, it was in the 1950’s, after racial segregation in public schools was declared unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, that many Southern states erected Confederate flags atop their state government buildings. Confederate monuments, memorials, and imagery proliferated throughout the South during the Civil Rights Era.”

In the aftermath of Brown v. Board, “Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina all began to fly the Confederate flag in symbolic opposition”. This current seeming uptick in racism is nothing new, it appears that in the past, as one step has been taken forward, some people and institutions will do what they can to try to attack that advance. This is why it is so important for people to begin a discussion in order to fix the current state of racism.

While I try to stay as open as possible and not go too far into politics on here, I think that the rhetoric from President Donald Trump is helping incite the tribalism, fear and hate we see today in America. People need to stand up to outright bullying, and hatred by whomever it comes from – especially from someone as influential as the president. If you wouldn’t allow your child, or grandchild to make the below statements, why would you want your highest ranking officeholder in the land to do so?

Other people around the country have started to show their true colors as bigots and racists. Today’s quick spread of ideas through avenues such as twitter can be great, but are dangerous in the wrong hands. My biggest fear is dehumanizing people who have committed crimes. While there needs to be appropriate steps taken in order to rehabilitate these people, if we only take them as “thugs” and “criminals” we are setting them up for a lifetime of crime. This goes against everything that Mr. Stevenson stands for. Remember, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” And dehumanizing people is a dangerous step towards a country that we do not want to go down. We, as a society need to ensure that we stand strong against any affront to freedom: either from tribalism or racism. I previously mentioned Walter McMillian, who was wrongully accused of a murder of a white woman. Mr. Stevenson’s beautiful synopsis of what he learned from that case seems quite apropos here:

“Walter’s case taught me that fear and anger are a threat to justice; they can infect a community, a state, or a nation and make us blind, irrational, and dangerous.”

Sometimes it is hard to feel optimistic when looking at the wide disparities in America. The racism, hate, tribalism, wrongful imprisonment, and so much more can begin to take a toll on our hearts as we deal with people throughout the world. This is when it is important to remember the crusaders of justice and equality like Mr. Stevenson. As he states, “I do what I do because I’m broken, too.” I think that this statement really gets to the crux of most of our issues in the U.S. I truly believe that the world is not made up of good and evil; right and wrong; or even racists and non-racists. Almost everyone is just doing the best they can in their circumstances. This means that we need to show some grace to the people around us: we never know what they are going through, but this does not mean that we let injustices occur:

“We’ve all been through a lot, Bryan, all of us. I know that some have been through more than others. But if we don’t expect more from each other, hope better for one another, and recover from the hurt we experience, we are surely doomed.”

The world is a difficult place, and everyone is just struggling to get along, but what is most important in the case of all of these serious cases of racism and such is that we need to WANT to know the truth and seek justice. We need to want it like our lives depend on it, because as has been shown again and again in so many ways lately, there are people whose lives do…

“…the only thing they needed was hope. Not that pie in the sky stuff, not a preference for optimism over pessimism, but rather ‘an orientation of the spirit.’ The kind of hope that creates a willingness to position oneself in a hopeless place and be a witness, that allows one to believe in a better future, even in the face of abusive power. That kind of hope makes one strong.”