Just Mercy

Short Review: An important book about the breakdown of our justice system and how in many cases it seems that scapegoating to relieve tension may be more important than actually getting the real perpetrators of crimes.

Bryan Stevenson is the head of the Equal Justice Initiative. An Alabama based legal aid group that primarily works with death row and other difficult legal cases to bring about justice. Stevenson has argued before the Supreme Court numerous times for fair sentencing and been successful at changing the legal framework around youth sentencing.

The broader story of Stevenson's life and work is told around one main death row case where like many others, the convicted man did not commit the murder and there was lots of evidence prior to the initial trial to prove that.

One area that is not talked about, but I would love to hear Stevenson's perspective on, is what should be the penalty (if any) for officers of the court that act unethically. In many of the cases that Stevenson describes there was withheld evidence, coerced testimony, and other acts that are clearly not only unethical, but illegal by police, prosecutors and judges. But virtually never are any of these actors held accountable.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/just-mercy/