Reddit reviews Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

if anyone in the thread wants to read about more horrific instances of racism in the justice system and inmates thrown on death row without even being convicted, check out Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy.

He was freed by the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit that provides free legal services to those who can't afford anything better than a public defender. The founder of EJI, Bryan Stevenson, has a book called Just Mercy, about his fight against the death penalty and against racism in the justice system. Read it, it's fascinating and horrifying, and I can't imagine anyone could walk away from that book and support the death penalty.

Here's a recommended book: Just Mercy

I just heard back about the exciting job I interviewed for a few months ago. I didn't get it, but found out it was a close race and a splinter skill was the difference between multiple people getting it.

I've been reading more recently: Just Mercy, which I highly reccomend; Twelve-by-Twelve; Tribe; A Renegade History of the US; and At Risk Youth.

I know I still need to compile and post about the Social Skills course I took last month, and I will, I've just been busy with school, work, and life.

> I don't think he ( /u/bg1256 ) was referring to the actual crime a person ends up pleading guilty to or is convicted of. I read it as a reference to a person who is willing to deliberately kill someone with premeditation and malice aforethought ... what should always be first degree murder as the initial charge. Granted that charge may be reduced later.

I agree with you, but in practice we cannot ever sentence someone to life in prison without working their case through the limitations and inherent biases of the criminal justice system.

> As it happens, Adnan was convicted of first degree murder in spite of seemingly having a good support structure and a decent attorney

We'll never agree on this case, barring some game-changing revelation, so I'm not going to comment here.

Edit: I will just comment that, my opinions concerning murderers have changed to some extent on reading this book. There is some wrongful conviction stuff there, but I found the stuff on the actually guilty to be more impactful.

It was included as a statistic in Bryan Stevenson's book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption which I had to read last semester. It really gets into black culture and the rise of police in their neighborhood.

I do not support the death penalty myself, because several reasons. If you would like some additional reasons, read Just Mercy.

However, you do need to believe that someone can be a faithful Catholic and support the death penalty.

Don't give up trying to persuade other people to stop supporting it.

But "you can't be Catholic if you believe this" is not an argument that it is possible to use (since it's inaccurate), and, further, it is not a very effective argument because it's just going to make people defensive. We should care about changing hearts, not about showing that we are "right" and that others are "wrong". What you need is to put them in proximity and relationship with people who have been hurt by the existence of the death penalty and by the state of the U.S. justice system in general. Hearts are moved by other hearts.

It's been this way for years. There are entire books written on the subject, as well as TED talks.

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Story-Justice-Redemption/dp/081298496X

https://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice

Also to add, since I'm no expert in this field, I would suggest further reading on this topic including:

• Anything by James Baldwin to get a holistic view of systemic racism in the Western context. His debate with William F. Buckley in 1965 is still one of the best explanations of race in America. Also highly recommend his seminal works, "The Fire Next Time" and "I Am Not Your Negro"
  
• "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Anything by him is a good intro to the subject and he's great at describing contemporary black American experiences in narrative form)
  
• "A Colony in A Nation" by Chris Hayes (concise, easy to read intro on the history of racism and policing from the perspective of someone who grew up in a middle class white suburb)
  
• "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander (history of mass incarceration over the past thirty plus years and how it disproportionately impacts black and brown Americans)
  
• "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson (first hand look at the brutality and inhumanity of much of the American carceral state and how the burden is most acutely borne by poor Americans and Americans of color)
  
• Additionally, with regards to the correlation between white racism and voting for Donald Trump, I would suggest reading the articles, "The Nationalist's Delusion" by Adam Serwer and "The First White President" by Ta-Nehisi Coates that were both published last year in The Atlantic Magazine.

There are, in fact, many, many facts to support my position. Just because class (which happens to be closely tied to race) also plays into the equation doesn't mean that racism isn't at the heart of the problem. Educate yourself, my friend:

https://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595586431

https://www.amazon.com/Ghettoside-True-Story-Murder-America-ebook/dp/B0062OCN4E

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Mercy-Story-Justice-Redemption/dp/081298496X