BAM! That is a great idea! The judge’s gavel strikes, finalizing his own mother’s sentence to life in prison. This awful affair was a poignant reality for many families residing in Alabama during the late 20th century and into the early years of the 21st. We as a country face a crisis that threatens women, making it far too easy to spontaneously receive a hefty sentence for minor mistakes. Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer in Alabama, was a primary force fighting for these unlucky women. Stevenson wrote the book, Just Mercy, a memoir recapping the cases he pursued. Stevenson was a young law student who took part in justice projects all over the country. He eventually ended up in Alabama to represent the poor, incarcerated, and condemned. The majority …show more content…
One of these cases followed a woman, whose name was not disclosed, who received a preposterous sentence that was not even close to warranted by the “crime” she committed. “She had, in fact, been convicted and sentenced to over ten years in prison for writing five checks, including three to Toys “R” Us. None of the checks were for more than $150. She was not unique”(Stevenson 236). This shows how easily a woman can receive a sentence. If anything, a few overdrawn checks should warrant a fine from the bank, definitely not prison time, especially as long as ten years. This woman being sent to prison impacts her family as well, they are clearly not well off seen as she was scrounging to purchase Christmas gifts. The husband and especially the children would feel the impact of this unjust sentencing just as much, if not more, than the mother would. Stevenson uses this anecdote because the situation it describes is particularly heart wrenching. It causes the reader to feel emotions they otherwise wouldn’t. Another instance of Stevenson using an anecdote is when he refers to Efernia McClendon. McClendon was a black teenager who became pregnant in high school and unsurprisingly hid the pregnancy from her parents. The baby was delivered after just about five months of pregnancy and came into this world as a stillborn. The baby’s remains …show more content…
He thoughtfully chooses words to emphasize certain points. Near the end of the chapter, Colbey was freed and gave a speech at the EJI’s annual benefit. Her speech was heartfelt and touched those who attended, but Stevenson drew special attention to Colbey’s daughter. Stevenson described, “We took pictures with Marsha and some of the staff, and her daughter is in every shot because she refused to let go.”(Stevenson 241). Stevenson makes sure to say that Colbey’s daughter refused to let go, she wasn’t just reluctant, but she refused. This shows the impact that Colbey’s incarceration had on her daughter. She was so desperate to never lose her mother again that she would not let go. Stevenson conveys all of this detail thoughtfully using one word. One word makes all the difference and evokes a different feeling in the reader. He uses diction again in the same instance. In the next paragraph he notes that, “She became emotional only when she talked about the women she’d left behind”(Stevenson 241). This shows Colbey’s remorse for those women still trapped there. She was previously there with them and will be scarred by it for as long as she lives. Stevenson, rather than simply saying that she got emotional when she talked about the people that were still in that prison, says “the women she’d left behind”. This carries more emotional weight and further shows Colbey's empathy for the incarcerated. That careful manner of writing
The non-fiction text I decided to read that led me to my topic of Capital Punishment is titled, Just Mercy by attorney-at-law Bryan Stevenson, and it provides stories of a lawyer who wanted to bring justice to the court system by helping men, women and children, sentenced to death row by helping them obtain their freedom. The book first begins with a back story of the Mr. Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson is a graduate from the law soon of Harvard. His interest in Death Row cases grew when the law office he was interning for sent him to talk to a man, Walter McMillian, who was sentenced to death row after wrongfully being accused of a murder he did not commit and was framed for. Mr. Bryan helped him, and Walter was eventually released about six years in death row. In the book, Mr. Stevenson goes through many cases that he has taken upon, some failures and some great success. The people Bryan helped were mostly minorities who faced racial bias at the time of their trial. He represented not only men, but also children. There’s stories about how a woman whose baby was born dead was sentenced to prison
In the articles “A Genetic of Justice” by Julia Alvarez, “The text of Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the United Nations” and “On the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human” they talk about freedom and their human rights. The interesting thing about these articles is that they all fight for freedom. For instance, they are fighting for what they believe in. Also, these people were caring towards others because not only were they fighting for their rights, but others as well. In these articles, it displays the same rhetorical devices of diction and rhetorical device. Given these points these representatives like Minerva, Malala, and Eleanor are brave for standing up for themselves and others because it takes a lot of courage to speak up
In the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is a memoir where Bryan Stevenson guides us through his life as a lawyer for those who are death sentence. From 1983 when he was student at Harvard Law to 2013 where he lost a client he was defending for years , he takes us through several cases he has taken over the years and showed how they personally impacted him as not only as a lawyer , but a person as well.
Martin Luther King Jr. incorporates many rhetorical strategies in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He construes to the Clergymen why he is eager to adjust segregation laws. King relays his contradictions and arguments in a clear, considerate demeanor through the application of ethos, logos, and pathos.
Bryan Stevenson wrote a book called Just Mercy, which is about the failures in the criminal justice system. He tells the stories of victims of horrible injustices. He uses pathos as a narrative technique in order to persuade readers to feel empathetic towards the people about whom he wrote in his book. Stevenson uses pathos to have the reader feel a variety of emotions, specifically sympathy, anger, and hope because he knows that those emotions have more influence on the readers.
Compassion has became something rare in our society, and something that a lot of people lack. The author, Barbara Lazear Ascher, explains to us that compassion is not a character trait, but rather something that we learn along the way with the help of real life situations we encounter, such as the ones she encountered herself. Ascher persuades her audience that compassion is not just something you are born with by using anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and allusions.
Over fifty years ago, in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., a Civil Rights leader, wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail addressed to eight clergymen. In his letter, King uses language tools to convey his concerns to the clergymen. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. manipulated language by using rhetorical devices to effectively transmit his message to readers. King uses methods such as repetition, anaphora, syntax, and more.
Rhetorical Analysis “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In 1963 on April 16th, Martin Luther King Jr, who was in the Birmingham jail for non-violent protesting wrote a letter in response to a statement from eight white clergymen, in which they stated that his recent activities were “unwise and untimely.” In this letter King proceeds to state his purpose and reasons for his timing and his protests and powerfully he does so. He most obviously directs the letter to the Clergymen but there seems to be a many different audiences he wishes to enlighten on his thoughts. From what I gather he wants public figures and everyday men to read his letter, and by doing so he hopes to raise awareness of the cruel acts that have been done to the blacks.
I chose this word because the tone of the first chapter seems rather dark. We hear stories of the hopes with which the Puritans arrived in the new world; however, these hopes quickly turned dark because the Purtains found that the first buildings they needed to create were a prison, which alludes to the sins they committed; and a cemetery, which contradicts the new life they hoped to create for themselves.
Capital punishment and bias in sentencing is among many issue minorities faced for many years in the better part of the nineteen hundreds. Now it continues to spill into the twenty first century due to the erroneous issues our criminal justice system has caused many people to suffer. In the book Just Mercy authored by Bryan Stevenson, Stevenson explains many cases of injustice. Stevenson goes into details of numerous cases of wrongfully accused people, thirteen and fourteen year olds being sentenced to death and sentences of life without parole for children. These issues Stevenson raises bring to question whether the death penalty is as viable as it should be. It brings to light the many issues our criminal justice system has today. There
By coming into the country, other races are denied of superiority and are exposed to an already “racialized society”. (pp.78) Oppression also comes into place with hierarchy, such as the “Bonds of Sisterhood” by Romero that portrays a difference between African American servants and housewives. It sets up an inequality between both women, showing inferiority over African American woman. One last reading that has emerged and captivated attention is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson expresses oppression in one of his own narratives when he was discriminated by two S.W.A.T officers. He describes his experience terrifying yet shocking since he had done nothing wrong. He was accused of a burglary based on the color of his skin because he lived in a white neighborhood. Not only that, but he was also investigated and searched which violated his rights. This unlawful act portrayed the ignorances for complex, multiple, and cross cutting relationships because Stevenson was an educated lawyer; yet, was seen different by the two officers in his own residence. Overall, Stevenson’s book has captured attention since it has given an experience of what he went
Bryan Stevenson is a defence attorney for a man named Herbert Richardson who 's on
In Bryan Stevenson book Just Mercy, Stevenson exposed many things about the justice system. He explain to his audience that the justice system are treated minorities wrong. Bryan Stevenson influences on the readers’ thoughts about the justice system. He makes the readers question if we are being treated right. Stevenson does this by using logos effectively by providing the readers with the cases he dealt with. There are four cases that stuck out to readers are the Walter, Charlie, Horace, and Joe.
In Harper Lee’s fictional novel To Kill A Mockingbird, an African American field hand is falsely accused of raping a white women. Set in the 1930’s in the small town of Monroeville Alabama, Addicus Finch an even handed white attorney tries to shed a light on the injustice of this innocent black man’s conviction. Atticus feels that the justice system should be color blind, and he defends Tom as an innocent man, not a man of color.
The “Just Mercy” Book Critique. Payton Peugh Department of Public Service, Boise State University CJ 101: Intro to Criminal Justice Dan Dexheimer April 16, 2024 “Just Mercy” Book Critique “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson is a touching story and legal narrative that delves into the systemic injustices within the American Criminal Justice System. Stevenson, a renowned civil rights attorney, recounts his experiences founding the Equal Justice Initiative and working to defend wrongly convicted prisoners, particularly cases where the death penalty was issued. It’s also the same reason Bryan Stevenson founded the “Equal Justice Initiative” in 1989.