nicolesottiriou's review against another edition
5.0
An important work about the criminal (in)justice system in the United States. The countless tales of individuals disenfranchised in the internment system is haunting. A book you cannot forget.
tacis's review against another edition
5.0
This is a powerful book. I felt a whole range of emotions while reading this book and it was not an easy read. It is heartbreaking and inspiring. It has changed my way of thinking about racism, poverty, imprisonment, and the death penalty in our justice system. This is one of those books you wish everyone would read so there is more awareness created about the complete injustices and cruelty people have had to endure.
stephisbranded's review against another edition
5.0
"Mercy is most empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven't earned it, who haven't even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion."
"I thought of the many ways we've legalized vengeful and cruel punishments, how we've allowed our victimization to justify the victimization of others. We've submitted to the harsh instinct to crush those among us whose brokenness is most visible. But simply punishing the broken--walking away from them or hiding them from sight--only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too."
One of the most powerful books I have ever read. This book took me a long time to get through. Mostly because of the law jargon and having to look up certain phrases I didn't know. I also wanted to make sure that I took in every word that I read. This book isn't just about the death penalty, its not just about the wrongful imprisonment of black people, it's not just about the outlandish numbers of people on death row. It's about what WE need to do as a society to create peace and actually promote a justice system that is about rehabilitation and not casting people out of society. It's also about not looking at someone and judging them by what they look like, where they have been, what they have done, or what they haven't done.
I learned a lot from this book--about myself, about humans, and about our country. I use to be a person who was in favor of the death penalty. For the last few years I have definitely been straying away from that line of thinking and more in the line of resources, rehabilitation, and counseling. This book gave me a whole other insight into the problem of people who are wrongfully accused and people who are put in prison who have mental disorders and disabilities, or simply because they are black and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I'm extremely interested in ways to get involved now, and being a librarian in a diverse community makes it something I want to push for even harder. https://eji.org/get-involved has some great tools to start off with!
This is a difficult book to read. But it is so important.
"I thought of the many ways we've legalized vengeful and cruel punishments, how we've allowed our victimization to justify the victimization of others. We've submitted to the harsh instinct to crush those among us whose brokenness is most visible. But simply punishing the broken--walking away from them or hiding them from sight--only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too."
One of the most powerful books I have ever read. This book took me a long time to get through. Mostly because of the law jargon and having to look up certain phrases I didn't know. I also wanted to make sure that I took in every word that I read. This book isn't just about the death penalty, its not just about the wrongful imprisonment of black people, it's not just about the outlandish numbers of people on death row. It's about what WE need to do as a society to create peace and actually promote a justice system that is about rehabilitation and not casting people out of society. It's also about not looking at someone and judging them by what they look like, where they have been, what they have done, or what they haven't done.
I learned a lot from this book--about myself, about humans, and about our country. I use to be a person who was in favor of the death penalty. For the last few years I have definitely been straying away from that line of thinking and more in the line of resources, rehabilitation, and counseling. This book gave me a whole other insight into the problem of people who are wrongfully accused and people who are put in prison who have mental disorders and disabilities, or simply because they are black and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I'm extremely interested in ways to get involved now, and being a librarian in a diverse community makes it something I want to push for even harder. https://eji.org/get-involved has some great tools to start off with!
This is a difficult book to read. But it is so important.
jeremyanderberg's review against another edition
4.0
With this story turning into a movie late last year, it seemed like the perfect time to give the original a read.
While in law school at Harvard, Stevenson spent some time interning with the Southern Center for Human Rights. He was so distraught by what was happening in prisons across the south that he moved to Alabama to start the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) — a non-profit dedicated to helping inmates in a variety of categories: lifers with mental illnesses, those sentenced as children (early teens), those on Death Row with less-than-satisfactory evidence, and others with special circumstances.
Just Mercy documents Bryan’s work, particularly with the case of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully imprisoned and sentenced to death for murder in Monroeville, AL (which is ironically Harper Lee’s hometown). Other chapters, however, document similar cases EJI has worked on and important issues in the realm of incarceration in America.
It’s a powerful book. There’s no doubt. The cases and judges and public defenders and police officers we meet are infuriating. It feels unreal, actually, that some of these people ended up in prison at all; I had the thought that if this book was a modern novel, I wouldn’t have believed the plot lines.
And yet, it’s hopeful. Bryan is angry and sad, but keeps on. He embodies the Good Fight, but never in a self-serving way (which would have ruined the book). It’s obvious that the point — what the book is really about — is to share with the world the injustices of America’s prison system. The point is to give the average reader some proximity to the men and women behind bars. As he says right away in the introduction:
“Proximity to the condemned and incarcerated made the question of each person’s humanity more urgent and meaningful, including my own.”
A mix of The New Jim Crow (in its depressing depiction of the modern state of mass incarceration) and Mountains Beyond Mountains (in its surprising hopefulness in the midst of that despair), Just Mercy is a superb accounting of a world that’s utterly different from my own. It’s steeped in goodness and perseverance, and it’s eye-opening, to say the least.
While in law school at Harvard, Stevenson spent some time interning with the Southern Center for Human Rights. He was so distraught by what was happening in prisons across the south that he moved to Alabama to start the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) — a non-profit dedicated to helping inmates in a variety of categories: lifers with mental illnesses, those sentenced as children (early teens), those on Death Row with less-than-satisfactory evidence, and others with special circumstances.
Just Mercy documents Bryan’s work, particularly with the case of Walter McMillian, a black man who was wrongfully imprisoned and sentenced to death for murder in Monroeville, AL (which is ironically Harper Lee’s hometown). Other chapters, however, document similar cases EJI has worked on and important issues in the realm of incarceration in America.
It’s a powerful book. There’s no doubt. The cases and judges and public defenders and police officers we meet are infuriating. It feels unreal, actually, that some of these people ended up in prison at all; I had the thought that if this book was a modern novel, I wouldn’t have believed the plot lines.
And yet, it’s hopeful. Bryan is angry and sad, but keeps on. He embodies the Good Fight, but never in a self-serving way (which would have ruined the book). It’s obvious that the point — what the book is really about — is to share with the world the injustices of America’s prison system. The point is to give the average reader some proximity to the men and women behind bars. As he says right away in the introduction:
“Proximity to the condemned and incarcerated made the question of each person’s humanity more urgent and meaningful, including my own.”
A mix of The New Jim Crow (in its depressing depiction of the modern state of mass incarceration) and Mountains Beyond Mountains (in its surprising hopefulness in the midst of that despair), Just Mercy is a superb accounting of a world that’s utterly different from my own. It’s steeped in goodness and perseverance, and it’s eye-opening, to say the least.
smashleyxk's review against another edition
5.0
I highly encourage everyone to read this. By the end it actually had me thinking about becoming a lawyer myself to help these types of cases. This book will make you angry and probably cry. But it's a beautiful thing when you read about the progress that's been made in the system thanks to lawyers like Bryan.
akmorgan's review against another edition
5.0
"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."
Wow. Just wow. This book brought me to tears multiple times. Every American, Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever else, needs to read this book. Bryan Stevenson is an excellent writer and the story of Walter McMillan reads like a legal thriller. But more than that, Stevenson challenges us all to think about what justice truly means. And a Christian, there are so many parallels between Stevenson's work and the redemption found in the Gospel. I find myself praying for Mr. Stevenson, that he would also know the grace and mercy of Christ. I don't know Stevenson's faith, but he's inspired me to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.
Wow. Just wow. This book brought me to tears multiple times. Every American, Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever else, needs to read this book. Bryan Stevenson is an excellent writer and the story of Walter McMillan reads like a legal thriller. But more than that, Stevenson challenges us all to think about what justice truly means. And a Christian, there are so many parallels between Stevenson's work and the redemption found in the Gospel. I find myself praying for Mr. Stevenson, that he would also know the grace and mercy of Christ. I don't know Stevenson's faith, but he's inspired me to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.