Depiction of The Misuse of Criminal Justice System in Just Mercy

Introduction

The #1 New York Times Best Seller Just Mercy, written by Bryan Stevenson, is a thrilling narrative about Bryan’s career as a lawyer and co-founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in the 1980s. This novel delves into Mr. Stevenson’s life story, from growing up poor, representing the disadvantaged in the South, and working with the falsely accused awaiting execution on death row in Alabama. Though this is a tale of justice and redemption, it is not without its challenges and obstacles.

Depiction of The Misuse of the Criminal Justice System in Just Mercy

To start, in Chapter 4: The Rugged Cross, an issue becomes immediately apparent. Bryan Stevenson and Eva Ansley had finally opened a non-profit law center for the men and women on death row in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This occurred in February of 1989. The purpose of opening this organization was to provide those on death row with the high-quality legal services they needed at no charge. However, things quickly started going downhill. They began to rapidly lose their staff, funding, and support. For example, the University of Alabama School of Law decided to withdraw its support from their organization. This caused total devastation: “...where we had set up the office withdrew their support and promise of office space, and we discovered just how hard it was to find lawyers to come to Alabama and do full-time death penalty work for less than $25,000 a year.” Without funding, support, and staff, there is no way to successfully set up this organization and provide proper services to the inmates. Therefore, as time went on and nothing changed, they decided to relocate to Montgomery, Alabama, in hopes of securing the necessary funds and requirements for the Equal Justice Initiative. Post-relocation and after assisting a few inmates, an African-American Vietnam veteran named Herbert Richardson is introduced. Like the others, he is on death row, and his execution is only a mere thirty days away. Despite his dire situation, he refuses to give up hope. When he was being treated at a New York veteran’s hospital, he met a nurse who eventually became his girlfriend. However, after breaking up, she moved to Alabama, and Mr. Richardson followed her there. He planted a bomb on her doorstep, anticipating that she would return to him for “protection.” Though the ex-girlfriend and Herbert were not injured, the young niece of the ex-girlfriend picked up the device, thinking it was a clock, and was tragically killed. Thus, Herbert Richardson was charged with murder and was represented by a lawyer who failed to present any of his war-induced mental illnesses and background. Since the lawyer failed to present this crucial evidence, the jury viewed him unfavorably. As Mr. Richardson was already perceived as an outsider, the prosecutor sealed his fate with a final statement. In the courtroom, “...the prosecutor told the all-white jury in his closing argument that a conviction was appropriate because Herbert was ‘associated with the Black Muslims from New York City’ and deserved no mercy.” His lawyer then denied his motion to appeal, which led to Herbert’s immediate conviction and placement on death row eleven years later. There was no fair legal service provided to Mr. Richardson, and he was later singled out as evil to an all-white jury because of it. The criminal justice system did not fairly execute Herbert Richardson’s rights and treatment.

Walter McMillan’s Case

Moreover, in Chapter 5: Of the Coming of John, the problems continue to arise. In this chapter, the family provides more testimony on the case of Walter “Johnny D” McMillan. Mr. McMillan was an African-American pulpwood worker from Alabama who was wrongfully believed to be responsible for the murder of a young white woman working at a laundromat as a clerk. As the McMillan family explains to Bryan why Walter could not have committed this crime, he makes it his mission to seek justice for Walter. Later, Stevenson receives a phone call from a young man named Darnell Houston, who claims he can prove that Mr. McMillan is innocent. Once they meet in person to discuss the information Darnell possesses, Bryan wants to use it to immediately appeal Walter’s case. However, Bryan later receives a phone call from Darnell, informing him that he has been arrested and needs to be bailed out because he has been accused of committing perjury. Mr. Stevenson is immediately upset by the news because he knows it should not have happened. Bryan states how, “It was unheard of to indict someone for perjury without any investigation or compelling evidence to establish that a false statement had been made. Police and prosecutors found out that Darnell was talking to us and they decided to punish him for it.” It was an unruly intimidation tactic used to proceed with convicting Walter.

Charlie’s Case

Finally, in Chapter 6: Surely Doomed, Bryan Stevenson receives a call from a grandmother, pleading with Bryan to help her fourteen-year-old grandson Charlie. She explains to him how he has been put in jail for murder, and she wants Bryan’s help to save her grandson. He is initially unsure how to respond to her since, “Only a handful of countries permitted the death penalty for children—and the United States was one of them. Many of my Alabama clients were on death row for crimes they were accused of committing when they were sixteen- or seventeen-year-old children...Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death per capita than any other state—or any other country in the world” (Stevenson, 2014, p. 115). Knowing this fact and understanding that Charlie would not be facing the death penalty, more likely life imprisonment, due to the Supreme Court ruling the death penalty to be barred for juveniles under fifteen, he does not take the case. However, he does offer her help and looks into his file. The man Charlie murdered was his mother’s abusive boyfriend, George. George had punched Charlie’s mom, causing her to fall, and in the process, she hit her head on the counter, resulting in severe bleeding. After failed attempts to help his unconscious mother, he goes to call 9-1-1 but notices George is asleep. In a blind rage, he grabs a gun and shoots George, then calls 9-1-1. Upon further examination of his file, it states that he was found to be a “dangerous adult” and “heartless.” Despite these claims, when Stevenson visits him, it couldn’t be further from the truth. The boy is a scrawny little boy who barely speaks or makes eye contact. After trying to get Charlie to talk, he finally opens up about what happened to him during his two nights in jail. Charlie cries, “‘There were three men who hurt me on the first night. They touched me and made me do things...They came back the next night and hurt me a lot...There were so many last night. I don’t know how many there were, but they hurt me…’” Charlie was a vulnerable fourteen-year-old boy who was treated poorly while in jail, prompting Bryan to take the case and fight for him to have his own single cell until he had to appear in court. Though it was not a death row case, it was a case he knew he had to act on.

Conclusion

The connection to the criminal justice system is the misuse of its three major components: police, courts, and corrections. This is evident in Mr. Herbert Richardson’s case from Chapter 4. His attorney failed to present crucial evidence to support his “not guilty” plea and did not allow him to appeal. Additionally, this is seen in the case of Darnell Houston, who was wrongly arrested for perjury without prior investigation. The use of these three major components of the criminal justice system is intended to protect and serve the people, along with their rights, yet these components were shamefully ignored.

References

1. Stevenson, B. (2014). Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Spiegel & Grau.

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