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A review by bookwoods
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
5.0
4.5/5
“I have discovered, deep in the hearts of many condemned and incarcerated people, the scattered traces of hope and humanity - seeds of restoration that come to astonishing life when nurtured by very simple interventions.”
Just Mercy is a deeply humane look into the American justice system told by layer Bryan Stevenson. Illustrated with the stories of the people he’s worked with, Stevenson reveals the realities of mass incarceration, and other devastating problems embedded in the legal system. While the focus is on these stories, the empirical evidence is nicely combined with facts creating an argument for change that’s impossible to deny. You can’t help but ache for all the people broken by the system, brokenness being one of the central messages:
“I worked in a broken system of justice. My clients were broken by mental illness, poverty and racism. They were torn apart by disease, drugs and alcohol, pride, fear and anger. In their broken state, they were judged and condemned by people whose commitment to fairness had been broken by cynicism, hopelessness, and prejudice.”¨
Coming from Europe I did catch myself questioning how any of this is related to me, but I know that being conscious of injustices of this level shouldn’t be limited to their immediate surroundings, nor to people with an inclination towards the justice system. I’ve never been particularly interested in these topics yet that didn’t matter in the least. And although the book only talks of America, Europe isn’t perfect either.
Just Mercy enhances compassion and encourages fight for social justice. But not everyone is going to read this whole book, which is why I’d like to recommend a documentary called 13th Amendment as a substitute. It features Stevenson and talks of the same issues without having such a focus on individual experiences. Both are extremely current in the context of Black Lives Matter movement.
“I have discovered, deep in the hearts of many condemned and incarcerated people, the scattered traces of hope and humanity - seeds of restoration that come to astonishing life when nurtured by very simple interventions.”
Just Mercy is a deeply humane look into the American justice system told by layer Bryan Stevenson. Illustrated with the stories of the people he’s worked with, Stevenson reveals the realities of mass incarceration, and other devastating problems embedded in the legal system. While the focus is on these stories, the empirical evidence is nicely combined with facts creating an argument for change that’s impossible to deny. You can’t help but ache for all the people broken by the system, brokenness being one of the central messages:
“I worked in a broken system of justice. My clients were broken by mental illness, poverty and racism. They were torn apart by disease, drugs and alcohol, pride, fear and anger. In their broken state, they were judged and condemned by people whose commitment to fairness had been broken by cynicism, hopelessness, and prejudice.”¨
Coming from Europe I did catch myself questioning how any of this is related to me, but I know that being conscious of injustices of this level shouldn’t be limited to their immediate surroundings, nor to people with an inclination towards the justice system. I’ve never been particularly interested in these topics yet that didn’t matter in the least. And although the book only talks of America, Europe isn’t perfect either.
Just Mercy enhances compassion and encourages fight for social justice. But not everyone is going to read this whole book, which is why I’d like to recommend a documentary called 13th Amendment as a substitute. It features Stevenson and talks of the same issues without having such a focus on individual experiences. Both are extremely current in the context of Black Lives Matter movement.