Just Mercy: Conclusion

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 Stevenson, B. (2014). Just Mercy. New York: One World Publishing. Pages 227-316.

In my last blog post, I wished for peace for Walter McMillian. I soon learned it would not come to pass. 

In the chapters since 'I'll Fly Away', we see further systemic issues in Alabama through other clients in Stevenson's care. We also see the same systemic issues through the subsequent decline in Walter's health. As Walter's mental and physical health deteriorated into advanced dementia, the McMillians were faced with a new issue: How would they secure long-term assisted living for someone with a criminal record? 

Stevenson's conversation with Walter was heartbreaking: The only care they'd been able to secure for him was so clinical, he thought he'd been placed back on death row. He hoped Stevenson could get him off again, except there was one problem -- he wasn't in prison. He was in a hospital, and it was there he would need to stay to receive the only care his family could secure for him. He ultimately died in 2013. 

Stevenson also saw the execution of one of his clients, someone he fought hard for that had been wrongfully accused due to his intellectual disabilities. These things, occurring together, brings Stevenson to discussing an important aspect of working as an advocate, particularly in areas of oppression: Vicarious trauma. 

We also see further successes: the US Supreme Court decided that life sentences without parole imposed on children convicted of non-homicide cases were cruel and unusual punishment that would ultimately reduce the sentences of many of Stevenson's clients. There were gains in their fight against the death penalty, rates of mass incarceration began to slow, and EJI continued to mature in what was now over twenty years of fighting for the rights of those on death row. 

Ultimately, Stevenson's memoir ends on a hopeful note: "I continue to meet stone catchers along the way who inspire me and make be believe that we can do better than we've done for the accused, convicted, and condemned among us -- as well as those who are victimized by crime and violence -- and that all of us can do better for one another" (2014, p, 316).

I give this book FIVE stars. I look forward to teaching it alongside To Kill a Mockingbird as an English Language Arts teacher, particularly to discuss the importance of narrative lens. I would encourage everyone, particularly those from the state of Alabama, to read this book.



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