Chloe Tat

Dr. Morgan

LEAD CTW1A

October 21, 2019

Empathy is the Key

With the casual cruelty that permeates throughout our society today, it is more important

than ever to practice empathy towards others. Bryan Stevenson’s memoir Just Mercy details

many of the legal cases Stevenson works on as a legal advocate for the marginalized, especially

those that were wrongly accused or harshly sentenced. Just Mercy brings more awareness to the

injustices the marginalized face, and prompts for deeper thoughts on the American criminal

justice system and its ethicality. In Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, he explores the concept of

justice, in a system that targets minorities, as well as empathy and redemption, what he describes

as mercy, and its importance in breaking the cycle of the criminal justice system. In the struggle

to bring this argument to light, Stevenson focuses on cases where racism and classism is

prevalent, as well as cases where children are sentenced to life in prison, and brings his personal

experience to the forefront as well as his careful selection of cases to present to the audience.

Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer whose entire career is focused on helping the marginalized

get the legal counsel they need but can not afford. Within the first page, Stevenson introduces

himself, as a “twenty-three-year-old student at Harvard Law School working in Georgia on an

internship” in 1983 (Stevenson 3). By citing Harvard Law as his legal education, Stevenson sets

himself up to be seen as a credible lawyer, because of the reputation of Harvard Law as a

prestigious law school. He strengthens his credibility and appeals to ethos when in the

introduction, he includes the types of cases he has worked on: “I’ve represented abused and
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neglected children … I’ve represented mentally disabled people whose illnesses have often

landed them in prison for decades” (17). Additionally, his drive to help the wrongfully

condemned comes from a genuine place. Stevenson, “in 1988, [discovered] an opportunity to get

federal funding to create a legal center that could represent people on death row. The plan was to

use that funding to start a new nonprofit” (21). By setting up and working for a nonprofit,

Stevenson clearly makes his stand, and shows that he is offering legal counsel because it is the

right thing to do, and not for the money, making him a much more trustworthy narrator.

Stevenson appeals to pathos because he chooses to do the right thing despite how it is the more

difficult path.

The book mainly follows the efforts of Stevenson to exonerate Walter McMillian, a black

man who was sentenced to death row for a crime he did not commit. The McMillian case was

incredibly convoluted, to the point where witnesses who stepped forward were arrested and

threatened to keep quiet. Stevenson comes to the realization that “if everyone who tried to help

[them] on the case was going to be threatened, it would be very difficult to prove Walter’s

innocence” (113). Despite the difficulties, Stevenson pushes forward, which further adds to his

credibility and dedication as both a lawyer and narrator. The proof of extortion to keep the case

from being reopened also demonstrates how the criminal justice system actively works against

the marginalized. Eventually, McMillian is acquitted, but his difficulties continue as he re enters

and adjusts to society. In an interview done months after his release, “[McMillian] became

uncharacteristically emotional. ‘They put me on death row for six years! They threatened me for

six years. They tortured me with the promise of execution for six years. I lost my job. I lost my

life. I lost my reputation. I lost my – I lost my dignity’” (254). McMillian’s emotional

breakdown and exclamations demonstrates the distressing after effects of his time in prison due
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to the injustices inherent in the American criminal justice system. McMillian, every since his

introduction, is characterized as optimistic and cheerful despite the injustices he faces. The

sudden change in the way McMillian acts reinforces the damage and effects of an unjust criminal

system. The effects of the unfair system “traumatizes and victimizes people when we exercise

our power to convict and condemn irresponsibly - not just the accused but also their families,

their communities, and even the victims of the crime” (17). The far reaching scope of the

traumatic effects of the abuse from the criminal system invokes empathy from the audience,

since it is so clearly inhumane to sentence others to such horrible punishments.

McMillian’s case is only one of many that have suffered due to the unjust criminal

system. Many of Stevenson’s cases concern minority populations, such as people of color, the

poor, women and the disabled. For example, one of the cases Stevenson writes about is of

Marsha Colbey, a poor white woman who was sentenced to prison for the murder of her stillborn

baby, despite the weak evidence agaisint her. When accusations of a stillborn birth were exposed

as false in court, the “State introduced inflammatory evidence that Marsha was poor, a prior drug

user, and obviously a bad mother for not seeking prenatal care. Police investigators went into her

home and took photographs of an unflushed toilet and a beer can on the floor, which were waved

in front of the jury as evidence of neglect and bad parenting” (232). Stevenson’s retelling clearly

demonstrates how the State sets up Marsha for condemnation, appealing to logos, making it

clear to the audience that Marsha was unfairly sentenced. Another example of the prejudice in

the system is that “in Alabama, even though 65 percent of all homicide victims were black,

nearly 80 percent of the people on death row were there for crimes against victims who were

white” (142). Stevenson’s use of statistics and facts appeals to logos, and in addition to the
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examples of cases he has worked on help build a convincing argument that the justice system

targets the marginalized.

Furthermore, Stevenson has also worked many cases where a child was tried as an adult,

and sentenced to life in prison. This is a huge issue, because many of these cases have no chance

for parole. However, “contemporary neurological, psychological, and sociological evidence has

established that children are imparied by immature judgement, and underdeveloped capacity for

self-regulation and responsibility … Young teens lack the maturity, independence, and future

orientation that adults have acquired” (267-8). With factual research to back up his claims,

Stevenson appeals to logos to help persuade the audience to understand how immoral it is to try

children as adults. Additionally, Stevenson brings his own insight from his experience, observing

how “when he talked about his own act of violence, he seemed deeply confused about how it was

possible he could have done something so destructive. Most of the juvenile lifer cases we

handled involved clients who shared Evan’s confusion about their adolescent behavior. Many

had matured into adults who were much more thoughtful and reflective; they were now capable

of making responsible and appropriate decisions” (266). Stevenson shows that the dissonance

between adolescent behavior and adult reasoning is clearly common between many children’s

cases. By focusing so heavily on children's cases, Stevenson evokes pathos. Children are

typically regarded as the future, but so many of these children’s own future is cut short because

of the unfair justice system that discriminate against them. The growth that many of these

inmates shows and serves as a reminder that everyone deserves a chance at redemption, and the

fact that they were kids when they were sentenced helps further invoke a strong empathetic

response. The children’s cases are also the best example to see how mercy is important. Without
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mercy, these kids would never have a future outside the prison, and they so clearly deserve a

chance at redemption.

In addition to the cruel sentencing of minors, crimes of violence are also typically

sentenced harshly. For example, during the Mr. Caston and Mr. Carter proceedings, Stevenson

meets an older black woman, whose grandson was murdered by some boys, who were mostly

likely minors at the time, and were sentenced to life in prison. The older woman says that when

the “judge sent them away to prison forever [she] thought that would make [her] feel better, but

it actually made [her] feel worse” (307). By retelling the encounter through first person,

Stevenson creates a sense of closeness and familiarity for the audience, which helps invoke

empathy. Although crimes should not go unpunished, sentencings with no chance of redemption

only serve to continually feed into the never ending cycle of violence. It is in human nature to

grow and change, and everyone deserves a chance to be able to redeem themselves. One of the

most important lessons Stevenson has learned is that “each of us is more than the worst thing

we’ve ever done” (17). People are always in a flux of change, and without mercy, those

condemned will never have a chance at redemption.

Through the heavy use of his own personal experiences and his choices of what to

include from each case evokes pathos, ethos, and logos to help strengthen his argument that

everyone deserves mercy and the chance at redemption and shows how the marginalized are

disadvantaged by the criminal justice system.

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Works Cited

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: a Story of Justice and Redemption. Spiegel & Grau, 2015.