When Brian Stevenson decided to write this book, you can tell that he didn’t just do it to gain money or fame, or to add to his resume. Mr. Stevenson wanted more than all of that, he wanted to share stories that many people hadn’t even considered when talking about life on death row. Through his legal standpoint as a defense attorney, and all of talks with those wrongfully committed, he paints a much clearer picture about such a terrifying and horrific experience. As someone who knew very little about how the process of the death penalty worked, I think that this book educated me a lot on how the system works, how unfair it is for some prisoners, and truely how big of a mental toll it takes on not only those accused, but also their family and friends. 

Something that is very important to touch on is the setting in which Just Mercy took place. Brian Stevenson had traveled to Alabama in the late 1900’s to pursue his career of helping those wrongfully put on death row. It’s critical to realize that back then, and especially in Alabama, racism  was everywhere. And unfortunately, you could make the same argument today, except it wasn’t hidden much at all. In spite of knowing this, Brian Stevenson charged directly into the lion's den to fight for what he knew was something that had to be done. It’s amazing to hear the stories of persistence and grit, with the knowledge that he too was putting himself in grave danger. One time, he was getting out of his car after getting home from work, and a police car parked behind him. Two officers walked up with their guns drawn, despite Stevenson doing anything wrong. They forcefully took him out of his car and slammed him against his hood. One of them proceeded to search his car, completely trashing it and leaving everything in ruins. After they were done, one of them said “You’re lucky we didn’t put you in jail”, before walking away. That one scene was such a decisive moment in the story, and was really well written. I think that he did a really good job portraying the true horror he felt in an experience that would have developed much differently had he been white. 

Throughout the book, there was both internal and external conflict. Stevenson had a lot of internal conflicts such as if he should really pursue his job, was what he was doing the right decision? But also external conflicts, which included encounters with the police, some arguments with clients, and also witnesses who weren’t telling the full truth. An external conflict that stood out to me was the last case in the book, when Walter McMillian was accused of killing a young, white girl at a gas station. Stevenson dug deeper into the case and found out who the witness was, Ralph Myers. While questioning, it became a verbal battle with so much on the line. As the story unfolded, I found it to be a huge page turner, and I couldn’t set the book down. Stories like these are what make this book so special. 

The characters the reader learns about become almost like friends. Each of their stories are so unique and diverse that that in itself is admirable. The character I found to feel for the most was Herbert Richardson. Prior to the story taking place, he had served for the military and fought in the Vietnam War. However, after being diagnosed with a psychiatric illness, he was honorably discharged. Then, his life went downhill, and didn't get much or any medical help. One day, he set a package outside on some lady’s porch that he was attracted to. He had decided to place a bomb inside and as it detonated, run up and save her. However, the device unintentionally backfired and went off with her standing right next to it. Obviously, this was a horrible death and shouldn’t be lessened just because of mental illness. However, it was very clearly never Herbert's intention to kill, and he didn’t think that what he was doing was wrong. I found myself siding with him, and I felt so strongly about him not being killed as well. This story and many others in the book really pushed me to keep reading. I wanted to find out if people like Herbert found justice or if the broken system failed them. 

Throughout my experience from reading Just Mercy, there have been many things I’ve learned about Death Row and all of it’s problems. Things like how poorly people are treated by the police, the insignificant legal help they receive, and truly just how unfair it was to be a black man being prosecuted in Alabama, or anywhere else in America for that matter. Despite it being a very dark book, there are some very joyful and relieving moments sprinkled in, along with so much context to some extremely shameful moments in American history. I recommend this book to anyone in high school or above as it has quite a few dark aspects to it. Especially if you aren’t very knowledgeable about the justice system, this is a great and very interesting book.