BOTW January 21

By Paige Waskow

The book of the week is:

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

What's it about?

Just Mercy is a nonfiction recollection of the work of Bryan Stevenson, a defense lawyer in Birmingham, Alabama. The central plot of the story follows Walter McMillan, a black man convicted of killing a white woman. His trial only lasts a day and a half, the jury is made up of eleven white people and one black person, and the judge overrules their conviction of guilty to sentence him to death row. As Stevenson quickly notes in his story, McMillan is completely innocent, and there was significant evidence to prove so. His fight to prove McMillan innocent identifies the injustice and racism in the justice system.

Alongside this story, Just Mercy follows the cases of other individuals Stevenson defended. Some are guilty of a crime, some are innocent, but the central point of the book argues that the choices and procedures of the judicial system are not equal. Stevenson's journey and heartbreaking experiences raise important questions such as: what is mercy and why is it important?, who gets to decide who lives and who dies?, and why do we use methods such as solitary confinement and trial as adults for children?

Why did I choose it?

I choose this book because of its raw honesty and identification of injustice. The stories of the book helped me better understand both the broken judicial system as well as how those who do not have power in society are treated. I especially got a better sense of the racism of the system and how it does not give equal protection under the law. Of course, I went in and came away biased, I am against the death penalty, but regardless of any individual's belief, Just Mercy is an important book that gives light to issues that are easily covered up.

Beyond the message of the book, Stevenson's writing reads like a novel. The book's action and stories are careful laid out in extensive detail. Both the facts and emotions are powerful, and you will not get bored reading it.

Learning more:

If you are interested in learning more about Stevenson's law firm, The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), you can click here to go to their website.

Additionally, the author spoke at a TED conference about his work and personal beliefs. His talk is called "We need to talk about injustice". If you are interested, click here to go to the video.

Is there anything else you should know?

Just Mercy does have accounts of murder, sexual assault, and other violence due to the nature of crimes and stories discussed through out Stevenson's career.

Where can you get Just Mercy?

Just Mercy is available at Coe's library as well as at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. If you don't have a CRPL library card, you can get one for free.

If you have a book you love and want to see as a BOTW, leave a comment below. 

Happy reading!

References:

Equal Justice Initiative. “The Book.” Equal Justice Initiative, 2017, eji.org/just-mercy/book.

Conover, Ted. “‘Just Mercy,’ by Bryan Stevenson.” The New York Times, 17 Oct. 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/books/review/just-mercy-by-bryan-stevenson.html?smid=pl-share.