Lexi Gassman

Dr. Eichenberger
SSO 200 01: Race, Class, and Gender
30 January 2018

1. Stevenson quotes from “Of the Coming of John” from WEB Debois’ book The
Soul of Black Folks. How did he relate the story of the coming of John to Walter’s
family and community? What must it be like to be the “hope of an entire
community?”
● Both Walter and John both were respected by the
community and with their respective fates had a very
negative impact on the communities in which they lived. He
uses the “Coming of John” story to portray that no matter
what happens or how respected an African American may
be, during that time, white dominance in the courts made it
almost impossible for a black man to not be convicted as
guilty.
2. Discuss the case of Charlie, the 14 year-old accused of the murder of his mother’s
boyfriend. What were the most important events and aspects of the case?
● Charlie a 14- year old boy who is in jail because he killed his
mom's boyfriend. He did this because the boyfriend, George,
hit Charlie's mother across the head and she fell. She was
bleeding excessively. Charlie went to go get the phone to
call the police because his mom was on the kitchen flood
bleeding and was unresponsive. Charlie claimed he didn't
know why but he opened the drawer where he knew a gun
was kept and shot George in the head. George was also a
police officer, so it was decided in the court that he would be
tried as an adult. When Charlie was in jail he was sexually
abused and raped. When Stevenson went to talk to Charlie
he wouldn't talk to him until Stevenson put his arms around
Charlie and he started to shake and cry. The Jennings who
were an older couple that had lost their grandson, decided to
use the money they saved for him to help Charlie.

3. Outline the important points that Stevenson makes about the death penalty and race
in the US.
● Stevenson states that mostly all of the condemned prisoners in the
US are poor, African American men and women. He notes that
 there are far fewer white men and women placed on death row than
any other race.

4. Why does Stevenson believe that reform is needed in the justice system when it
comes to mental illness? Be sure to give specific examples from cases in the book.
● Antonio Nunez grew up in a neighborhood filled with gang violence.
Domestic violence plagued his home life leaving him mentally
battered. His mother was so depressed herself that she could not
properly care for Antonio. Although Antonio lived a hard life as a
child, he wanted to be a police officer. This all changed when he
was shot by a stranger while innocently riding his bike around his
house. This left Antonio with an even poorer mental state that could
never be repaired. When Antonio was placed in prison, his mental
health still was deteriorating to a point that he could have
considered legally insane. This made Stevenson very angry and
upset because in jail, Antonio was not receiving the help that he
needed to overcome his mental illnesses and would be constantly
mistreated because he could not meet the demands placed on him
daily by the prison guards. Stevenson fills that prison guards need
to be better prepared to deal with mentally ill prisoners and treat
them with more compassion and patience.
5. In the introduction Stevenson talks about the importance of proximity. He says that
proximity has taught him the three important lessons listed below. Consider each one of
the lessons and discuss examples from the book which fit each lesson.
● Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
○ This example can be seen when talking about Ralph Myer. Ralph
falsely testified against Walter, making up stories about how Walter
committed the murder of Ronda Morrison. However, at the end of
the book you see Ralph reach out to Bryan Stevenson so that he
can do the right thing and tell the truth at Walter’s new trial. This
proved that he was more than the worst thing he did, which was
putting an innocent person to death. He realized what he did and
wanted to make it right.
● …the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is
justice.
○ This can be seen in the book with Walter’s family. They were not
wealthy by any means, they didn’t have money to pay Bryan
Stevenson for his services. However, despite the poverty of the
McMillian’s they were able to receive justice for Walter. After many
 long hopeless years, Stevenson was able to finally give the
McMillian’s the justice that they deserved despite their poverty.
● The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the
disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.
○ This can be seen in the book by how Bryan Stevenson treats
everyone. He treats everyone the same, like a person should be
treated. He never judged someone if they were innocent or guilty or
rich or poor. He treated everyone with respect and tried to do
everything he possibly to so that he could help them regardless of
how he thought the situation might turn out. Even though there
were times he was angry about the injustice in certain cases he
never let his anger control him. He worked just as hard for
someone who was condemned as he did for someone who was
disfavored.