Bryan Stevenson writes about his work in Just Mercy. He grew up in a working-class African-American family. When he was 16, his grandfather was murdered by children who tried to steal his television. Stevenson was not discouraged. He later became a lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School. He then went to Georgia to work for the Southern Center for Human Rights, and then to Alabama to start the Equal Justice Initiative. It is here that Stevenson writes about the bulk of the work he has done for prisoners on death row, fighting against the death penalty and life sentences without parole for young offenders, and confronting abuse of the mentally ill, the mentally handicapped and children in prison. Just Mercy is an easy read to dive into. The stories told in the book are gripping and may ultimately change the way the justice system is viewed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Stevenson addresses many of the issues raised in his work for the Equal Justice Initiative. He discusses the flaws in the justice system and injustice in civil rights. One of his cases that he talks about in the book and that he is extremely proud of is the case of Walter McMillian. Walter McMillian was a man convicted of murdering a young girl based on fabricated and almost hard-to-believe testimony. Although he had alibi witnesses, including an officer, who placed him seven miles from the crime scene, he was still convicted and placed on death row before being sentenced. . The jury in his case found him guilty and imposed a sentence of life in prison. However, Judge Robert E. Lee Key overturned the jury's recommendation and sentenced McMillian to death. Stevenson could not believe that a jury would find McMillian guilty of such absurd fabrication of evidence. Stevenson fought hard to have the conviction overturned and get a new trial, but ultimately continued to be rejected. He ultimately turned to a last resort. Stevenson continued on "60 Minutes" and they aired a segment on Walter McMillian's case in 1992. Three months after the segment aired, the Alabama Court of Appeals granted McMillian a new trial. Days after a new trial was granted, the prosecution dropped the charges against McMillian. If Stevenson had abandoned his fight for McMillian after numerous devastating denials, and not appeared on "60 Minutes," an innocent man would have been killed. The McMillian case raises many criminal justice questions. This raises questions about the ethics of the police officers involved in the case. They pushed and fabricated testimony to put an innocent man on death row. This can make people wonder, if there is a murder case, where the public is pressuring the police to make an arrest, would all the officers violate their ethics and lie just to put someone behind bars for murder, even if they are innocent? ? The police arrested a suspect on whom they could easily pin responsibility for the murder and fabricated evidence to incarcerate him, mainly in order to satisfy the community. The McMillian case also raised procedural questions. Police placed McMillian on death row before he was even convicted. This is not a procedure, and it begs the question: whyWould they handle this matter this way? It also raises questions of policy, with the judge overturning the jury's decision and sentencing McMillian to the death penalty. It is legal in Alabama for the judge to do this, but it is rare for it to happen. McMillian was convinced at his trial that he would be found innocent because he was, and he had witnesses to prove where he was at the time. He didn't think anyone would believe the lies that had been told to condemn him. The entire justice system in the McMillian case was flawed and it failed to protect an innocent man from imprisonment, which almost caused an innocent man to be put to death. The McMillian case should have been handled differently from the start. If that were the case, Stevenson probably never would have had to be involved. If law enforcement had done their job, McMillian would never have been convicted. If the prosecution had done the right thing, he probably would not have been convicted. If his first defense team had done a better job of discrediting witnesses and breaking down the prosecution's case, then McMillian might not have been convicted. When Stevenson approached the new prosecutor about the case, the new prosecutor should have seen what was wrong with the McMillian case and should have worked with Stevenson. Many things in this case should have been done differently. The only thing that seemed to have been done well was Stevenson's fight for McMillian. Stevenson had many victories like McMillian, but he also had many defeats. We are particularly talking about Michael Lindsey. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman. Lindsey was African American. When the victim is white and the perpetrator is black, they tend to receive harsher sentences than if their races were reversed. As in McMillian's case, Lindsey's jury recommended a life sentence, but the judge reversed his decision and sentenced him to death. Stevenson fought to get Lindsey pardoned because the jury wanted him to live, but his request was denied and Lindsey got the chair. Despite Stevenson's defeats, he still fought against the issue of the death penalty. Along with the McMillian and Lindsey case, Stevenson also fought for other clients. One of its objectives was to understand adolescents regarding the crimes committed. He represented numerous clients imprisoned for crimes they committed as juveniles and challenged their sentences. There are many different cases discussed by Stevenson in Just Mercy involving people who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed when they were minors. One case in particular is that of Trina Garnett, where a young girl was sentenced to life in prison. in prison for a crime she committed when she was fourteen. Trina had a life full of trauma before the crime, and afterward there was only more trauma. She was mentally unstable due to the trauma, but she was still forced to stand trial and be tried as an adult for second-degree murder. (Just Mercy pp. 148-151). This matter was not handled as it should have been. Trina's court-appointed attorney did not discuss her mental state during the trial and did nothing to prevent her from being tried as an adult. She was sentenced to adult prison and was raped while incarcerated, along with her child who she became pregnant with as a result of the rape being taken from her. His mental state deteriorated. (Just Mercy pp. 148-151). Trina is one of many children sentenced to.