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A review by julianolan16
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
5.0
“The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?”
This is a book I will recommend to every person I know. It exposes that massive injustices in mass incarceration and is an absolutely heartbreaking read. The justice system and prison system are two of the biggest issues in the United States in my opinion and we as a society and a country can not move forward until this is more adequately addressed. Stevenson does a great job telling a moving story while giving facts and information on the inadequate justice system, it becomes almost infuriating reading how unfairly so many people have been treated and the blatant disregard to evidence. The racism in mass incarceration has never been hidden but this book really makes you think about how African Americans have been continually disregarded through the United States History. In 2022 the number of people on death row has decreased, but the United States is the only western country that still allows it. As Stevensons reaffirms throughout the book, a person should not be defined by the worst thing they have done. Nobody should be sentenced to murder. The systematic racism in the justice and prison system is a continued issue today as well as the lack of support people receive after being released from prison providing no resources to become a member of society. The pattern of abuse will continue until real legislative change is made as well as how society views and treats ex-offenders, especially all of those that are in prison for long stunts for non-violent crimes.
“Ian spent 18 years in uninterrupted solitary confinement” - Ian was sentenced at 13 years old
“Prison population has increased from 300,000 people in the early 1970s to 2.3 million people today”
“Between 1990 and 2005, a new prison opened in the United States every 10 days”
This is a book I will recommend to every person I know. It exposes that massive injustices in mass incarceration and is an absolutely heartbreaking read. The justice system and prison system are two of the biggest issues in the United States in my opinion and we as a society and a country can not move forward until this is more adequately addressed. Stevenson does a great job telling a moving story while giving facts and information on the inadequate justice system, it becomes almost infuriating reading how unfairly so many people have been treated and the blatant disregard to evidence. The racism in mass incarceration has never been hidden but this book really makes you think about how African Americans have been continually disregarded through the United States History. In 2022 the number of people on death row has decreased, but the United States is the only western country that still allows it. As Stevensons reaffirms throughout the book, a person should not be defined by the worst thing they have done. Nobody should be sentenced to murder. The systematic racism in the justice and prison system is a continued issue today as well as the lack of support people receive after being released from prison providing no resources to become a member of society. The pattern of abuse will continue until real legislative change is made as well as how society views and treats ex-offenders, especially all of those that are in prison for long stunts for non-violent crimes.
“Ian spent 18 years in uninterrupted solitary confinement” - Ian was sentenced at 13 years old
“Prison population has increased from 300,000 people in the early 1970s to 2.3 million people today”
“Between 1990 and 2005, a new prison opened in the United States every 10 days”