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onmalsshelf 's review for:
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
"You've got to beat the drum for justice."
WOW. I picked Just Mercy as the July 2020 buddy read pick for my true crime buddy read group and I am disappointed that it took this long for me to read it.
I went through all of the emotions on this one: sadness, irritation, and anger. So many people who were wrongfully convicted that had everything going against them from the start of their trial.
This should be required reading sometime in high school so that teenagers, 1) there are problems within the justice system and 2) innocent men and women are still fighting to be free due to unfair prosecution.
I was aware that the system was flawed, but I didn't realize how flawed it is, specifically in the state of Alabama. In true crime books and documentaries, it's really not shared that people get the death penalty for more than just serial murder. After reading Just Mercy, I can 100% say that I believe that the death penalty should be illegal.
I can't believe how long it took for the Supreme Court to decide that juveniles could not receive the death penalty or that anyone with an intellectual disability should also not be subject to the death penalty (pg. 71). '
Bryan shared so many stories off of death row and from life imprisonment without parole that made me want to throw the book at the wall in anger. The system failed so many times whether it be in racial profiling, assuming someone is bad due to lack of a stable home or income, or lack of an assigned attorney that will actually fight for their client.
Bryan and his team have helped so many people in the south become free after taking up their cases. However, they can't be the only people doing the work. It takes more than just post conviction attorneys taking of appeals. Sheriffs, prosecutors, pathologists, and forensic scientists need to be held accountable. That means no racial profiling (which we know is still an issue in 2020), no getting rid of evidence after a trial, and testing everything that can be tested for DNA evidence. So many people have been cleared of what they were imprisoned for after their attorney finally got the evidence to be tested. SOMETHING THE COPS AND THEIR FORENSIC TEAMS SHOULD HAVE DONE.
WOW. I picked Just Mercy as the July 2020 buddy read pick for my true crime buddy read group and I am disappointed that it took this long for me to read it.
I went through all of the emotions on this one: sadness, irritation, and anger. So many people who were wrongfully convicted that had everything going against them from the start of their trial.
This should be required reading sometime in high school so that teenagers, 1) there are problems within the justice system and 2) innocent men and women are still fighting to be free due to unfair prosecution.
I was aware that the system was flawed, but I didn't realize how flawed it is, specifically in the state of Alabama. In true crime books and documentaries, it's really not shared that people get the death penalty for more than just serial murder. After reading Just Mercy, I can 100% say that I believe that the death penalty should be illegal.
I can't believe how long it took for the Supreme Court to decide that juveniles could not receive the death penalty or that anyone with an intellectual disability should also not be subject to the death penalty (pg. 71). '
Bryan shared so many stories off of death row and from life imprisonment without parole that made me want to throw the book at the wall in anger. The system failed so many times whether it be in racial profiling, assuming someone is bad due to lack of a stable home or income, or lack of an assigned attorney that will actually fight for their client.
Bryan and his team have helped so many people in the south become free after taking up their cases. However, they can't be the only people doing the work. It takes more than just post conviction attorneys taking of appeals. Sheriffs, prosecutors, pathologists, and forensic scientists need to be held accountable. That means no racial profiling (which we know is still an issue in 2020), no getting rid of evidence after a trial, and testing everything that can be tested for DNA evidence. So many people have been cleared of what they were imprisoned for after their attorney finally got the evidence to be tested. SOMETHING THE COPS AND THEIR FORENSIC TEAMS SHOULD HAVE DONE.