Bryan Stevenson Boeken

"Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship--and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice"--Amazon.com

"Bryan Stevenson details from his personal experience his many challenges and efforts as a lawyer and social advocate, especially on behalf of America's most marginalized people"--"Provided by publisher.

"The wrenching, and inspiring, story of a fourteen-year-old sentenced to life in prison, of the extraordinary relationship that developed between him and the woman he shot, and of his release after twenty-six years of imprisonment through the efforts of America's greatest contemporary legal activist, Bryan Stevenson. Here is the story of a poor black kid from the toughest neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, who at age eleven began "jacking" (stealing) cars with his friends. At age thirteen he shot a white woman in the jaw during a botched mugging. For that crime, and because of his earlier record as a juvenile delinquent, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole--essentially a death sentence. Forgotten by society, tortured by prison guards, held in solitary confinement for eighteen years, he was nonetheless able to accomplish a near-miraculous release from the unimaginable hell of the U.S. correctional system. Unable to afford legal help, through his own determination and strategic thinking, some serendipity, and the all-important help of complete strangers, including Bryan Stevenson and, perhaps most extraordinarily, the woman he shot, he was able eventually to gain his freedom. Full of unexpected twists and turns, the narrative is at times harrowing, disturbing, and painful, but, ultimately it is astoundingly evocative of the power of human will"-- Provided by publisher