Victoria Sanchez-Monroy

English 1A
Dr. Morgan
31 October 2019
Just Mercy

There are obvious issues present in the current American Justice system, many of which

stem from racial bias and is exposed to us through social media and the news. Although not as

apparent in the 80’s, racism still plays a role within the conviction of a citizen regardless of the

substantial evidence provided in a case. This poses a divide in our legal framework defeating the

purpose the right of innocent until proven guilty and emphasizes the injustice of lessening a

sentence verdict. However, through the news, social media, and publicized literary works, our

society is now realizing the fear it imposes on minorities in our country and the inhumanity the

system grants them. In novels such as ​Just Mercy ​by Bryan Stevenson, he focuses much on the

detailed encounters in his lifelong legal career, but most importantly emphasizes the lessons we

can learn. Mainly involving work with marginalized groups, Stevenson devoted much of his

profession towards minorities who have been wrongfully convicted or harshly sentenced in

hopes to regain justice. Likewise, an article written by Marvin D. Free Jr. entitled “Racial Bias

and the Amercian Criminal Justice System: Race and Presentencing Revisited”, Free uncovers

the effects of discrimination exposing the prejudice our society has when convicting a person of

color. Both works do a particularly effective job at evoking emotions of injustice as the authors

present the distinctions between a privileged “white race” and the minority of non-white races

within the court system.

There is much controversy within criminology debating on the extent to which a person's

race affects criminal processing. In Stevenson’s novel, the primary focus revolves around his
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client Walter McMillan, an African American male who faces the death penalty in Alabama for

being falsely accused for the death of a white girl. Unfortunately, during his incredibly short one

day trial, McMillan’s verdict was wrongfully posed on him due to perjury and coercion from

police and the society of Montgomery Alabama. Stevenson’s writing focuses on the relationships

he developed with McMillan proving he is an average person who does not fit the stereotypical

views of the conservative south. Stevenson’s purpose is to ultimately propose that​ society should 

choose empathy and mercy over condemnation and punishment. He states that it is illogical to 

arrest ​ “someone for coming forward with credible evidence that challenged the reliability of a

capital murder conviction”, in turn which radically alters the ideas of truth and integrity. Here we

can identify where Stevenson emphasizes the invalidation of McMillan’s alibi since he was

present with an African American congregation. However in the court system, was completely

disregarded his alibi simply because they implied the church was lying and that they were

covering his tracks. Although the 80’s were more progessive in the civil rights movement, racism

and segregation were still heavily ingrained into the Southern culture, eventually dispersing to

other parts of the United States. As such, that also affects the criminal justice system which is

supposed to be just and fair. A prime example within the text is when Stevenson points out bias

in the Voting Rights Act being passed, he states the “court clerks and judges still kept the jury

rolls mostly white through various tactics designed.”(Stevenson) ignoring the law and the

regulations in place to make the courtroom prejudice free. McMillan comments saying “I feel

like they done put me on death row too. What do we tell these children about how to stay out of

harm’s way when you can be at your own house, minding your own business, surrounded by

your family, and they still put some murder on you that you ain’t do and send you to death
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row?”(Stevenson) MCMillan is further posing the theme of discrimination as he explains his

perfectly average lifestyle and yet he still receives judgement based on his race, proving the

arrogance the court has in accepting his way of life. We can feel the inhumanity of the case in the

sense that the society cannot abide by its own law of innocent until proven guilty, making us

question the entirety of the justice system. Regardless of the hardships he faced, throughout the

six years, McMillan always was optimistic in his case, and a​long the course of the trial 

Stevenson developed a close relationship with him and learned about patience, hope, but most 

importantly forgiveness. “We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An 

absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.”(Stevenson) It 

is shocking to believe the humility McMillan has and the strength for him to forgive others, 

especially since his life was on the line 

A key concept of this case was before it took trial, McMillan was already placed on death

row. While definitely illegal, we as the reader sit and think why? Free states that at times “At the

opposite end of the continuum are those who assert that the influence of race on criminal

processing is pervasive.” (Free) In relation, Stevenson showed us “how easily we condemn

people in this country and the injustice we create when we allow fear, anger, and distance to

shape the way we treat the most vulnerable among us” (Stevenson) We are constantly

accustomed to societies aspect on life that we fail to realize the inequality we are imposing on

others ignoring the difference we may all have. It is in human nature to commit mistakes from

which no one is exempt, so that is to say any crime is capable from any ethnic background.

Unfortunately, it is statistically proven that our “ legal system values white victims more than
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African American victims” (Free), which inherently can be generalized to the greater of

minorities. Not only are white victims valued more, white witnesses are believed to have more

honesty and are accredited versus other races. Moreover, this leads to African Americans

receiving “more severe dispositions than whites for less serious offenses” (Free).

Despite the privilege caucasians exhibit, they are equally discriminated against as well.

There are many corrupt issues in our legal framework that branches from police brutality to the

racism in politics, both from which we are all equally prone to experiencing. Free also

recognizes affirmative action which sympathizes to the minorities and is surprising to find that

“African American defendants are more likely than white defendants to have their cases rejected

or dismissed” (Free) due to the stigma there already is of constant discrimination. Reverting back

to ​Just Mercy​ there is an overwhelming amount of guilt that emerges from Ralph Meyers, a key

witness against the defendant.​ ​He claims, “I lied. Everything I said at McMillian’s trial was a lie.

I’ve lost a lot of sleep and have been in a lot of pain over this. I can’t be quiet any longer.”

(Stevenson) Myers is crucial in the society we are trying to strive for. He exemplifies the hope in

humanity to right our wrongs, this is not to justify his actions, rather move on and to ask for

forgiveness. The unfair treatment and misunderstanding of McMillan and other victims such as

him, sparks many emotions within ourselves engaging us to fight for the truth and always

achieve justice in all things. Both Stevenson and Free rips apart the inhumanity and heartless

ideals embedded in our country to prove that everyone has to be given the benefit of the doubt.

They both pose the question of how can we as a society progress forward if we cannot work with

one another’s differences. Stevenson makes this particularly clear as he exposes the

discrimination within his case as he highlights the toxcitiy of convicting one another based on
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appearance rather than the reality of the subject. While uncovering both aspects presented by the

authors, there is resentment from our perspective where we expect there to be a greater

punishment and fulfillment of justice. If within our community we feel the need to constantly

punish one another, we will not progress towards equality. As previously mentioned what

Stevenson’s message which is to give everyone just a little bit of mercy. Stevenson reminds us of

the fact that we are human that makes mistakes and are not perfect. We can allow both authors to

teach us the importance of equality through the stories they present. Not only does Stevenson

transcends the society of Monroe County, he is a beacon of advocacy to those who are

stereotypically judged. Free also ties in with Stevenson’s message by statistically calling

attention to the issues we face in our world to this day. We are to think not with bias and

prejudice, but with reason. With continuous growth and development we can prove society

wrong and provides a stepping stone for us to break the discriminatory bubble that hovers over

us and our future generations. Ultimately our goal is to eradicate systematic oppression and bring

the true meaning of justice back into our justice system. We should believe in the good of

humanity no matter our differences and learn to always have just mercy.
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Works Cited

Stevenson, Bryan. ​JUST MERCY​. Spiegel & Grau, 2015.

Free, Marvin D. “Racial Bias and the American Criminal Justice System: Race and Presentencing

Revisited.” ​SpringerLink,​ Kluwer Academic Publishers,

link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1015796321587.