Equality and Justice for All

     My beautiful readers, this is the second to last section that I will be writing about for you all in response to Just Mercy. Even though I have hinted at Bryan Stevenson's argument throughout my previous blog posts, this section has provided the perfect summary to the question, "why is he writing this book." Throughout the text, it has been quite clear that Stevenson wrote this novel to encapture and bring a spotlight to the great injustices within the United States Criminal Justice System.

     To make his argument more effective, Stevenson gave examples of how other people were treated in different circumstances. In conjunction with Walter's story, Stevenson tells the stories of minorities, and what their experiences with the criminal justice system have been. Yet, all seem to have one thing in common;  exploitation of power by police officers, judges, and those with any sort of influence.

     For example, one story that was told was the one of Charlie. If you refer to previous blog posts, I write his experience with the judicial system and just how helpless he was and felt. In summary, Charlie, a 14-year-old boy was tried for murder as an adult and was then sexually assaulted by adult criminals and exploited within the men's prison. In this case, Stevenson supported his argument that there are issues within the criminal justice system, but it was given as through the story of a child.

     The story of George Daniel displayed how the mentally ill are treated by the Criminal Justice System. George suffered severe head trauma after a car accident and was not able to get the treatment he needed. After no longer being able to recognize his loved ones or the places around him any longer, he ended up becoming a danger to himself and others.

     Yet, after wandering into another family's home, and forcefully dragged and put to gunpoint by an ignorant police officer, he was not treated as if he had a mental illness.


     So when the police officer fired his gun and killed himself from his own backfire, George was accused of faking his symptoms, which were clearly there, and was sent to prison on charges for capital murder.

     By including this story, Stevenson followed the same pattern by showing how minorities are mistreated by those with power. After every section, he followed with the point that this is just one example of the hundreds, maybe even thousands that are incarcerated for things they did not do, or things they could not help.

     This idea continues as Stevenson tells the stories of people who have experienced great suffering due to the corruptness of the system.

     Moving into this current section of reading, within the chapter "Mother Mother", Stevenson gives examples of two middle aged women, whose stories are quite similar. Marsha Colbey and Bridget Lee were both accused of murdering their own children after having a stillbirth and were imprisoned.

     Moving into Walter's case, Stevenson also continued to make his argument on page 225, after Walter was granted his freedom back. This short speech made by the author happened during a "new trial", in front of a new judge, who happened to be very understanding, humanly, and a woman.

     "Your Honor, I just want to say this before we adjourn. It was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man of murder and send him to death row for something he didn't do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence. We have serious problems and important work that must be done in this state."

   
      The last sentence felt of deeper importance to me because it was the first time, that he was heard by a person of the Criminal Justice System, and was really understood. This passage is a great example of what Stevenson's novel is trying to convey;

equality and justice for all. 

The Strong, The Powerful, The Determined.

Welcome back readers! As we continue discovering Just Mercy, we are confronted with the inequalities that many are forced to face because of our unjust criminal system. In this last section, Bryan Stevenson introduces us to more sides of the corrupt system as well as continues to follow through the astonishing events of Walter's case. Stevenson appeals to pathos throughout his book and is essential in this section when proving the wrongfulness within the criminal justice system. 

Stevenson strongly appeals to pathos in the chapter titled "All God's Children". The emotional and heart-tugging stories of Trina Garnett, Ian Manuel, and Antonio Nuñez are utilized as examples of children that have been wronged by the criminal justice system.

Stevenson decides to structure the way he tells these stories differently than those told earlier in the book. In previous stories, Stevenson would introduce us to specific characters by telling us how they were viewed by the judge and how they were eventually convicted. An example of this is when Charlie was first introduced at the beginning of chapter six. His connection with his mother was used strictly as a segway into his trial, then, later on, Charlie's side of the story was revealed. This differs from the more recent chapters including the stories of Trina, Ian, and Antonio. When telling their stories, Stevenson made sure to make the reader feel an emotional connection with them before telling them the outcome of the cases.

The author chose to reorganize his paragraphs to deepen the connection the audience has with the characters. When he creates a bond between the reader and the story he is telling, the impact is much stronger. One example, in my opinion, of when the readers feel most connected with the characters is when he describes what the children look like after years and years of solitary confinement.


He uses the emotion and his appeal to pathos to make his overall argument that is stated on page 160 that,

"They weren't exceptional. There were thousands of children like them scattered throughout prisons in the United States- children who have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole or other extreme sentences. the relative anonymity of these kids seemed to aggravate their plight and their despair." 

Stevenson uses these sentences to help readers begin to understand the complexity of the injustice criminal system. When reading this part I felt moved by him pointing out that "they weren't exceptional". At that time, I began to think about how many other children had to endure what those three did, which was exactly was Stevenson had planned, to provide emotion-provoking information.  

Stevenson also appeals to the pathos of his audience during the chapter "I'm Here". In fact, it was those very words that were so sentimental in this context. 

During the final paces of Walter's case, many of his friends and family came to support him, almost all of which were African Americans, and took up almost all of the courtroom seats. The idea that the room was filled by all blacks on the first day of the trial did not settle well with the U.S criminal justice system, so they decided to abuse their power and try to make the black people feel smaller. 

After the first day of court, the judge decided to withhold blacks the right to enter the courtroom due to it being " all ready filled". Yet, those seats just happened to be by all white people. Hmm, coincidence, don't you think?

Armed policemen and german shepherds inside of the metal detectors for a fear factor were also placed within the room. 

During this time, readers were introduced to a woman named Mrs. Williams. When she was one of the few asked to represent the blacks in the courtroom on the second day, Stevenson made a point to exaggerate how those around her responded with joy and pride when her name was called. As a reader, I began to feel emotionally attached to her through how others felt about her. 

Except, when Mrs. Willims entered the room, she was overcome with fear of the large german shepherds. Stevenson told her story of bravery when she was attacked by one of these dogs while fighting for her right to vote, and she could not bring herself to enter the room. After feeling shameful for the rest of the day, she was persuaded that she would enter the next day. When the next day came, Stevenson captured the moment.

"She moved past the dog and walked into the courtroom. Black folks who were already inside beamed with joy as she passed them. She st down near the front of the courtroom and turned to me with a broad smile and announced, 'Attorney Stevenson, I'm here!'" 

Just a moment later she repeated, "No, Attorney Stevenson, you didn't hear me. I said I'm here."    (pg 181). 

Stevenson then used the emotion's brought upon by this powerful woman to make another important point.

He said that, 

"At that moment, I felt something peculiar, a deep sense of recognition. I smiled now because I knew she was saying to the room, 'I may be old, I may be poor, I may be black, but I'm here." (pg 181). 

In this case, the author used the connection he had created between Mrs. Williams and the reader to point out just how determined she was, and how she, alone, symbolized blacks as a whole.

Powerful.

Strong.

Determined. 

Justice For All?

Welcome back my lovely readers!!! So much has happened while we were away. Two very important figures were introduced that within their stories, show great injustice within the United States criminal justice system. One of which, could pave the way for Walter's freedom, IF, the United States government can act fairly and not biased against the black man on death row.

The injustice within the judicial system was explored deeper within the ongoing story of Walter McMillian, and through the story of the young boy, Charlie.

If you remember correctly, Walter is the wrongly accused African American man who was sent to death row without convicting evidence. We have been following his story through the eye of Bryan Stevenson, an African American lawyer representing Walter on his case.

One example of the injustice within the Judicial system was shown further in Walter's story after meeting a new character, named Bill Hooks who was introduced as an allie that might prove Walter's innocence later in the case. Hooks told the lawyer his story, saying that a he was with Walter the night that Karen Kelly was murdered. Which did not add up with the wrongful story told by Ralph Myers, that showed Walter as the murderer. Knowing this, Stevenson planned to further his investigation, which went according to plan, hoping to overturn the death sentence placed on Walter.

After being told the information sparking light on Walters case, Stevenson made a point to visit the aunts of the victim, Mozelle and Onzelle. They were disgusted with how the system treated them and expressed the fact that they felt they should be treated as a priority considering they were the victims. Stevenson further explained that "as Mozelle and Onzelle discovered, focusing on the status of the victim became one more way for the criminal justice system to disfavor some people" (142). This idea explained that many of those on death row, were black people who had supposedly committed a crime, or crimes, against a victim who was coincidentally white. Stevenson also pointed out in that same paragraph, that "the study conducted for that case (decision McCleskey v. Kemp) presented convincing empirical evidence that the race of the victim is the greatest predictor of who gets the death penalty in the United States" (142).  In Georgia, that same study identified that the death penalty would be given more likely if the victim was white, rather than black (142). This is just one of the many facts that prove that racism is extremely prevalent in the inner workings of the United States Judicial System.

Imagine the deciding factor of your fate being race? Something to embrace instead of fear?

Another example of racial bias within the United States Criminal Justice System was shown in the short story told by Stevenson about a 14 year old child named Charlie, who was tried as an adult and put in an adult prison for murder. There, he was raped and sexually abused the first night in prison. Prison security did nothing to stop the abuse until Stevenson decided to take up Charlies case and demanded changes to be made.

Even though Charlie knew the real story that explained his actions, he still was not completely prepared for the "way too short, way too thin, and way too scared" young boy (120)

His mother was beaten everyday by her boyfriend, George, a drunk policemen. And one night she was almost beaten to the point that Charlie thought she had died on the kitchen floor in front of him , where he then proceeded to shoot George, thinking it would help the situation.

When meeting with Charlie for the first time, Stevenson noted something that completely stuck in my mind. "I asked them to remove the hand-cuffs. Sometimes in jails like this, the guards resist uncuffing clients, arguing that it's not safe or permitted to take the handcuffs off of aaa suspect during and legal visit. They worry that if a person gets upset or becomes violent, being uncured will make him or her harder to subdue" 121).

Then followed by...

"This guard didn't hesitate to take the handcuffs of this child before leaving the room" (121).

This quote is so powerful that you can understand how young and scared this young boy must have looked.

Charlie was not seen as a threat to those around him enough to keep the handcuffs on, so why is he being tried as one?

The Ugly Side Of Law Enforcement and the Judicial System

Hello my readers, It is my joy to welcome you to my blog! I look forward to spending this time with you while we create a deeper understanding of the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.

In this first section, many heart tugging stories told by the author and speaker of the novel, take you through the journey he experienced as he worked personally with other African American men and women on death row. While doing so, Stevenson highlights major problems within our criminal justice system. While the government has worked to change these inhumane acts committed against those that have not been proven guilty, wrongful acts are still committed today in and out of the court room.

Stevenson's personal story on page 39 takes the reader back to a time when he felt personally wronged by the United States Law Enforcement. To summarize, he was sitting in his car listening to music in front of his apartment while looking at a few of the cases that he would be representing. While enjoying the music, he noticed two SWAT cars, otherwise known as Special Weapons and Tactics cars, shinning a bright light on him as he sang along to the music. Stevenson soon felt uncomfortable and decided that his best option was to simply get out of his car and walk into his OWN apartment where he would be safe. Yet, while trying to do so, he was cut off with one of the policemen walking at him, one drawing his weapon and shouting, "Move and I'll blow your head off," accompanied with "Put your hands up." After being detained, Stevenson described one of the officers as "now leaning inside my car going through my papers. I know that he had no probable cause to enter my vehicle and that he was conducting an illegal search" (41). After illegally searching his car and finding nothing to push the case further, the policemen were described as disappointed. Without an apology for the wrongful accusations and illegal search of his vehicle, the policemen gave up and drove off. Flabbergasted with the insensitivity from these policemen, Stevenson decided to write a complaint letter in hopes of an apology from the policemen and a change in how those with power treat others when not being supervised. Yet, the only thing he received was a letter from the head of the Atlanta Police Department giving the excuse that "the police officers had done nothing wrong and that police work is very difficult" (43). Along with this, a very prolonged meeting with the deputy chief whom showed little remorse, and no signs of wanting change.

While this story was carefully placed so the reader is able to connect to Stevenson emotionally, he was also able to use this emotion to help make the point that there is injustice within the judicial system. While today, more police officers and those apart of the criminal justice system have been held more accountable for their actions, some still continue to exploit their power knowing they will not be seeing repercussions.

The injustice within the United States Supreme Court System was exposed in recent events that
involved the death of 15 year old Mexican boy, Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca, when he was shot in the head twice, by border patrol agent Jesus Mesa Jr (HERNANDEZ ET AL. v. MESA).

The government favored Mesas story that showed Hernández practicing illegal acts of crossing the border of the United States from Mexico. As for the families and parents of those that were with Hernández, insist that they were simply "playing a game with his friends that involved running back and forth across the culvert separating El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico" (HERNANDEZ ET AL. v. MESA).

On February 25 of 2020, The Supreme Court of The United States "concluded that Agent Mesa had not violated Customs and Border Patrol policy or training, and declined to bring charges against him. The United States also denied Mexico’s request for Agent Mesa to be extradited to face criminal charges in Mexico" ((HERNANDEZ ET AL. v. MESA). Doing so sparked an international outrage, and resulted in petitioners to sue the U.S District Court for violation of Hernández's fourth and fifth amendment rights.

This motion was denied.

How could the government uphold equality, while supporting reckless and disgusting behavior such as this? How could the government with such great power, not hold their own law enforcement accountable?

Politics.
Racial bias.
Ineffective leadership.




WORKS CITED
 
"HERNANDEZ ET AL. v. MESA." SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 25 Feb. 2020, www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1678_m6io.pdf. Accessed 3 Mar. 2020.