I believe that Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy did a fantastic job of not only providing a compelling narrative regarding his life as a death row attorney but also providing important, necessary information regarding capital punishment, discrimination in the justice system, legislature, and most importantly the lives of the defendants on death row. Similarly to his monologue regarding mercy in the final chapter, I also believe that everyone possesses the birthright of receiving “just mercy.” Regardless of whether someone has committed a crime or not, murdered or not, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re human. They’ve all lived a life before their crime, they loved, sinned, and shared memories with friends and family just like we all have.
A crime doesn’t cause these experiences, their humanity, to cease to exist, we are all still human, still equal, regardless of whether someone has committed a crime viler than I or the next person. I, like Stevenson, believe that someone ultimately remains human and that one action doesn’t mean that is who they are, no more or no less. There has been a movement of persecution, rid the world of sinners, whether that is to incarcerate them or execute them, and that is no better than what these “monsters” have done. The criminal justice system needs to learn to sympathize with these offenders and treat them as if they are, human.
Just Mercy has reinforced my belief that capital punishment is not only flawed but wrong. I don’t believe that any human should be able to declare death upon another, I think we all lack both the moral standing and right to do such a thing. No one can adequately provide “just punishment,” but I believe we all have it within ourselves to provide mercy and sympathy to all. Bryan Stevenson wonderfully delivers a story that humanizes a magnitude of people facing the ultimate punishment, death, and gives the reader the ability to understand who some of these death row prisoners are and why, like everyone else, they deserve mercy.