Just Mercy
What is the concept of proximity?
"Each of us is more than the worst thing we have ever done"
What is Monroe County, home of Walter McMillian, famous for?
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
What kind of writing is Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy?
Nonfiction writing
Why was the use of the electric chair discontinued to carry out sentences of capital punishment?
Too many failed attempts of death
What did Stevenson mean when he said Judge Norton was "locked into a maintenance role"?
He wasn't going to overturn previous rulings even if the evidence was compelling because he was the "custodian for the system"
What media event changed the way people of Monroeville and everyone else viewed Walther's case leading to the Alabama bureau of Investigation to reopen the case?
60 Minutes covering the event changed the viewpoint for the public
What was a "rule 32 petition" and what happened after Stevenson filed one on behalf of Walter?
A petition for a new trial as long as new evidence could be provided It went through and no judge wanted to touch it so they met with the district attorney again
Why is the name of Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women ironic?
A women funded a prison for other women
Why is it ironic that Stevenson frequently represented teens who had committed violent crimes?
Because he usually represents the innocent on death row not the guilty and he argued against charging teens against adults
Why did Ian desire the photographs from his photoshoot?
Because it made him feel alive and the photoshoot took place on his deceased moms birthday so it felt symbolic to him
According to Bryan Stevenson, what was the most likely reason Walter McMillian was accused of the murder of Ronda Morrison?
Because someone identified his truck as the truck that was seen driving away from the cleaners six months prior
What were the impressions that Henry made on Bryan?
Henry made a good impression altering his understanding of human potential, redemption, and hopefulness He goes into the meeting with one goal but ends up staying there all day
How does the U.S. compare to other nations as far as rate of incarceration?
Highest rates of incarceration
How did Stevenson and the EJI's goals differ from the ABI's?
EJI and Stevenson want to free Walter the ABI wants to find the correct person for the crime
Why is Bryan cautious about swimming in the water? Was his wariness metaphorical or foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing because now that he has proven himself he will have to be careful
What issues did Stevenson and Eva Ansley encounter when opening their non-profit law center?
Funding issues
How was Charlie's story resolved?
He gets his charges transferred to a juvenile offense, finds a family to go home to who promises to help him get his GED and go to college
What was the significance of Antonio Nunez of South Central LA?
He grew up in a bad environment so he remained in a bad environment and did nothing more with his life
What is the tone captured in this passage at the end of Chapter 11: "As he walked to the car, Walter raised his arms and gently moved them up and down as if he meant to take flight. He looked at me and said, 'I feel like a bird, I feel like a bird.'"
He is happy and feels free
Which absurd events occurred to one of EJI's clients, George Daniel?
He received brain damage from a car accident and was never treated
Describe the significance of the witnesses at the first day of Walter's new evidentiary hearing.
He states that the previous testimony that was given wasn't true and that all allegations against Walter were not true
When Walter supposedly committed the alleged murder at Jackson Cleaners, where was he?
He was at home at the fish fry
Joe Sullivan was sentenced to life in prison Florida at age 13 for sexual assault. Even after all that Bryan Stevenson has seen and experienced, how was his first visit with Joe shocking?
He was caged in a cell so small that his wheel chair couldn't even fit through the door
How did Stevenson react to his interaction with the police in Atlanta?
He was calm and tried to file a report but nothing came from it
Stevenson makes a convincing argument about the arrested development of a young teen sentenced to life in prison who is permanently damaged by the trauma of a terrible childhood and a violent prison experience. In fact, when he visits Joe, he cuts short his update on Joe's case in front of the US Supreme Court. Instead, what did they talk about?
His favorite color and cartoon character
After their arrest, where were Walter McMillian and Ralph Myers held as pretrial detainees?
Holman State Prison Death Row
What happened after Stevenson got an affidavit with Houston's testimony?
Houston got arrested for perjury and was let out on a bond
When the police accosted Stevenson outside of his home in Atlanta, in what way did they break the law?
Illegally searched his car
How did the issues change or not change from Day 1 to Day 2 of Walter's new evidentiary hearing?
Issues did not change Stevenson got mental health professionals to testify that Myers was being coerced to tell lies
What issues did Stevenson experience in Alabama while representing death row clients?
It took time, money, and resources that Stevenson didn't have set up after the move to Montgomery
What is the "prison-industrial complex"?
Making money off the prison system
What issues have contributed to the claim that America's prisons have become "warehouses for the mentally ill"?
Misguided drug policy, poverty, and excessive sentencing
When Bryan Stevenson goes to Sweden to receive the Olaf Palme International Human Rights Award for the EJI, he describes the Swedish criminal justice system. How is it compared to the US criminal justice system?
Similar
Bryan Stevenson certainly is a stonecatcher. What does this mean?
Someone who catches stones thrown because they choose to not because they have too.
What is the significance of W.E.B. Dubois's short story "Of the Coming of John"?
Stevenson can relate to it because man of his family members didn't graduate college let alone high school The people in his church encouraged him and never asked him for anything back, but felt the debt accumulating
In what ways did jury trials in the South fail to live up to the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
They were all white juries not making it up of peers
In 2005, the Supreme Court made a significant ruling regarding the death penalty. What was it?
Supreme Court banned the death penalty for kids
Explain a "mitigation narrative".
Telling a story about a client to mitigate their punishment based on the social circumstances.
What surprised Stevenson about the correctional officer with the truck that contained pro-Confederate bumper stickers?
That despite the time there was still the same issues that his grandmother faced
What is the "collateral consequences of incarcerating women"?
That most of the women incarcerated are mothers so they are leaving their children without anybody putting them into the system
Why do you think Stevenson included stories of children, like Charlie, who had been incarcerated in an adult prison?
To provide sympathy and to prove that the system is broken
What was the most convincing evidence in Walter's new trial?
The tapes of the Myers being coerced
In Chapter 12 Stevenson, what were the cases of women charged with capital murder for the death of their children?
The woman was charged with murder of her child because she gave birth to a still born baby A law passed made it illegal to put a child in a bad environment making it possible for many low income mothers to be prosecuted
Paul Farmer, the renowned physician who has spent his life trying to cure the world's sickest and poorest people, once quoted writer Thomas Merton to Stevenson. Dr. Farmer said, "We are bodies of broken bones." In what ways are we all broken?
We all have been hurt or seen things that hurt us that has broken us
Was Walter McMillian able to sue and seek compensation for being wrongfully charged and imprisoned on death row?
Yes gets 14 million dollars but after 5-4 Supreme Court ruling only gets few hundred thousand
Describe what is meant by a "super-predator"?
Young people involved in violence during the peak years of the early 1990s were more frequent or more vicious offenders than youths in earlier years
