I have almost finished reading the amazing book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, located in 
Montgomery, Alabama.
The EJI is a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to poor people, especially those sitting on death row, many of whom have never had the benefit of being represented by a competent lawyer.
The next time you hear someone say that America no longer discriminates
against people of color, that racism has been eliminated in this country, that our court system works equally well for everyone, that justice is blind, that only criminals need to worry about law enforcement policies aimed at “getting tough on crime,” hand them a copy of this book, get out your day-planner and set up a meeting to discuss it.
BE WARNED: Reading Just Mercy will probably induce long episodes of heartbreak, fury, shock and tears.
America’s evangelical Christians have a special need for such intervention.
The vast majority of evangelicals are conservatives who typically vote Republican.
Republicans have long been the proud party of tougher sentencing laws like “three strikes you’re out,” lengthy minimum sentences and tougher laws for minor drug offenses like marijuana possession.
Conservatives are also the loudest defenders of the death penalty. An abhorrent position that no Christian should touch with a ten-foot pole.
We have no idea how many innocent people have been tortured to death by state-sanctioned execution (often mishandled) in this country. The Death Penalty Information Project offers easy access to the long list of innocent people, mostly African American men, wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit.
Republicans are also the privatization party (although Democrats have
jumped onto this bandwagon, too). Viewing every area of life through capitalism’s money-making tunnel-vision has led to the rapid expansion of America’s private prison system.
The system includes a growing hoard of prison lobbyists – like sucker fish clinging to a prison-shark’s soft underbelly – urging harsher laws and lengthier punishments, all aimed at keeping more and more people in prison for longer and longer periods of time.
All for the love money – the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
Hear are the final two paragraphs from the introduction of Just Mercy:
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. My work with the poor and incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. Finally, I’ve come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness, and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich, the powerful, the privileged, and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.
“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it’s necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and – perhaps – we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”
Sounds a lot like Jesus, doesn’t he?
To your question— sure does… On your warning and encouragement, bought the book.
Thank you.
Great, Mart! Let me know what you think after reading it.