America’s criminal “justice” system is far from being just. Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy provides insight on the crucial problems within the criminal justice system. Just Mercy is the story of the author and his experience as a lawyer defending inmates in prison. In his book, Stevenson provides the stories of many different people suffering their consequences for their mistakes to demonstrate the unjust prison system in the United States. The stories that Stevenson tells serves to demonstrate the consequences in our system. Stevenson argues that our legal structures – which are meant to provide fair ruling to ensure that everyone under the Constitution is treated equally – have actually failed their intentions and have contributed to the systematic oppression of marginalized groups such as people of color, the poor, and mentally ill. Stevenson proposes that we must do our part to resist the unfair legal structures and advocate to change the conditions to show mercy and empathy to all.
United States has a history of oppressing people of color, such as Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement. This pattern of oppressing marginalized groups has not gone away. Instead, new institutions and practices through our legal systems have been put in place that disproportionately affect minorities. People of color are disproportionately disadvantaged, marginalized, and impoverished, not only within the criminal justice system, but outside prison walls. Even crazier, one in three black men born into this century are expected to be incarcerated within their lifetime. (Stevenson 2014: 15) Stevenson believes that in order to fix the injustice going on with our criminal justice system, we need to discuss racial history and contextualize contemporary race issues.
Men of color are presumed guilty and suspected by law enforcements, even when they have done nothing wrong. (Tyler 2014) In many neighborhoods, young black men of color are randomly stopped and questioned by enforcement on the basis of their race. (Stevenson 2014: 155) The primary case in Just Mercy tells the story of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman. Stevenson worked through many barriers, such as a racial profiling, racist juries, and incompetent officials to prove McMillian’s innocence. McMillian’s case demonstrates how the legal system can be unfair and unjust, especially to people of color.
Another aspect of the criminal justice system that is overlooked is mental illness. In prison, inmates have symptoms that are worsened as a result of harsh treatments by either guards or other inmates. “America’s prisons have become a warehouse for the mentally ill,” writes Stevenson. (Stevenson 2014: 187) Over 50 percent of inmates in the United States have a diagnosed mental illness – a statistic that is over five times the number of adults with diagnosed mental illness in the US population. (Stevenson 2014: 188) A prison is not a suitable place for someone with a mental illness or a neurological disorder. Prison guards are not trained to understand the needs of mentally disabled inmates. Overcrowded prisons do not care or provide treatment for the mentally ill. Since many aspects of our justice system (including judges, prosecutors, and prison guards) do not know how to recognize the needs of these individuals, the mentally ill inmates are subject to unfair treatment within the prison system.
Additionally, many children in the criminal justice system are imperiled by abuse and neglect. Juvenile offenders spending time in adult prison systems are easily abused. Even before committing a crime, juvenile offenders are often subject to trauma, abuse, and neglect. Juvenile offenders deserve a special kind of mercy, in which their backgrounds are considered. In Just Mercy, Stevenson tells the story of Trina Garnett to demonstrate the violence against juvenile offenders within the criminal justice system. Trina, a juvenile who had emotional and mental health problems due to her family’s poverty and abusive father, was 14 when she unintentionally caught a house on fire, killing two young boys in the process. (Stevenson 2014: 149) At the trial for her case, the judge did not consider Trina’s age, mental illness, abuse, or poverty, and she was convicted of second degree murder and sent to an adult prison for women for the rest of her life. In telling Trina’s story, Stevenson argues that we must take juvenile’s backgrounds and special conditions into account.
Stevenson argues for a more humane justice system, in which we are more empathetic towards those who have made mistakes and are suffering their consequences. He argues for fair trials and ruling with unbiased juries and judges to prevent the institutions and systems from disproportionately oppressing minority groups. He argues for proper care and treatment for inmates that are mentally ill. Lastly, he argues for a world of mercy where children in the system are treated for what they are: children, and not adults.
Stevenson believes that everyone is capable of change, and they should not be defined by a mistake they have made in the past. Mercy is at the center of Stevenson’s book. Harsh punishment is a form of violence that does not deter crime, and instead creates further violence and hatred. Just Mercy is a call to action against the unfair institutions of America’s prison system. Despite the constant setbacks and hurdles Stevenson comes across, he continues to prevail by advocating for those who have been wronged by our justice system, whether they are innocent or guilty. Over and over, Stevenson goes to any length to seek justice and mercy to those individuals. Stevenson sees a day where prison conditions are humane and just. He believes that we need to modify our prison practices to be more centered around rehabilitation, rather than punishment. He argues that society should have mercy and empathy to those who are harshly sentenced.
Stevenson’s idea of mercy sounds wonderful and remarkable, but there are implications we must consider. For one, we have to look at public opinion. Public opinion plays a large role in changing our criminal justice system. The only reason that Walter McMillian was even considered a suspect for the death of Ronda Morrison was because of the pressure that the public gave to law enforcement to find justice for the murder. The public views inmates as stone-cold criminals and ruthless people because of psychological secrecy. In terms of death penalty, the public is subject to psychological secrecy, where the public is only given selected details about an inmate’s life and death. (Haney 1997) In other words, the life and death of the person and their execution is highly sanitized to justify the state sanctioned killing. There are two ways that psychological secrecy is built. First, specific information is given to the public for the specific purpose of dehumanizing and damaging the person executed. Then, the actual account of the execution is extremely simplified and made to look less grotesque by using narrowly descriptions and misinformation. Once the image of a stone-cold and ruthless killer is implemented into the mind of the public, the image is hard to challenge or correct. For real change within our legal system to happen, the public must first educate themselves about the problems within the system and work together to change them.
Stevenson seeks justice for those who have been wronged by our criminal justice system, whether they are innocent or guilty. Just Mercy serves to demonstrate how our legal system, which has intentions for justice, has betrayed inmates and that there is in fact no justice within the system. Stevenson wants readers to understand that the justice system is a reflection of the overall values of our society, and that society must change our values to show mercy towards those that have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences. As Stevenson says, “Each one of us is more than the worst things we’ve ever done.” (Stevenson 2014: 17)