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Prerna Yadav

Professor Corner

UNIV 112

03 October 2016

“Land of the Free” and Home of Injustice

Throughout Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson illustrates the ill treatment of the poor, the

incarcerated, the colored, and the minors. Furthermore, along with showing that the death

penalty is an irrational method to punish people, he also demonstrates some of the discrepancies

and the corruptions in the government. Employing ethos, pathos, and logos, Stevenson makes a

strong appeal towards his claims.

Stevenson believes that certain groups of people are more susceptible to poor treatment

than other groups are. He says that “prisoners in some facilities would be placed in a

‘sweatbox,’…where the inmate would be forced to endure extreme heat for days or weeks,” (36).

Thus, the incarcerated people were, and in some cases, still are put through horrid conditions and

treated wrongly, simply because they are imprisoned and are of a lower standard than the prison

guards or the government, (Stevenson 64). Likewise, the poor people are also treated poorly

because they have no power or means to defend themselves (Stevenson 101). Additionally,

Walter McMillian was sent to death row for murdering Rhonda Morris. However, he was called

on because of his interracial affair with Karen Kelly, which people were not fond of, (Stevenson

33). Ergo, this shows not only racial bias, but also corruption in the government, in that the it

took the word of Ralph Myers simply because of a desire to end the case, not because McMillian

was proven to be the actual murderer of Rhonda Morris, (Stevenson 33). Minors, children under

the age of eighteen don’t have much say, and thus, are prone to ill treatment (Stevenson 157).
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Stevenson also implies that the death penalty is irrational and cruel, and that it is not a sensible

way to punish people for crimes that they have or even have not done, (87).

Stevenson employs ethos through the discussion of his personal experiences, which not

only adds to the credibility of Just Mercy, but it also provides insight on how bias can take place

for someone who is not incarcerated. Stevenson describes the time when two officers came up to

him unexpectedly and pointed the gun at him. They then checked his car illegally. Stevenson

says that “I knew that he had no probably cause to enter my vehicle and that he was conducting

an illegal search,” (41). However, Stevenson didn’t say anything to them because he thought it

would be “pointless” since they were already breaking the rules, (41). This illustrates the

corruption of the government officials and therefore of the government since the officers cannot

follow the rules. Furthermore, there is a probability that they searched Stevenson due to his

color, rather than due to suspicion of anything. By sharing the events that took place in his

personal life, Stevenson shows that he himself is a victim of racial prejudice and that he

understands what other victims feel when they go through this. Thus, he builds his integrity as an

author and the credibility of Just Mercy, and persuades his readers because he doesn’t just talk

about racism in society because he sees it. Rather, he brings light to it because he has

experienced it before.

Stevenson’s use of pathos builds an emotional connection between the readers and the

people in the book. By giving background summaries of the convicted people, Stevenson shows

the audience that the prisoners are human beings too. They are not just other cases or other

examples. They are people who have either made mistakes due to countless factors that played a

role in their lives, or were falsely accused of the crime. In McMillian’s case, the readers were

able to connect to McMillian and see his personality while looking at what he was falsely
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accused of. Later on, McMillian’s diagnosis of “advancing dementia, likely trauma-induced,”

brings the question of whether the trauma was from what he faced at death row, (276). If so, an

innocent man doesn’t deserve this. Stevenson’s use of these references that bring up emotional

responses not only makes the reading more interesting, but it also allows the readers to get to

know the convicts in a sense, and then judge whether or not they were improperly treated. In the

young Trina Garnett’s case, she was accused of lighting a house on fire and causing the death of

two young boys (Stevenson 149). However, the readers go on to find out about the “intellectual

disabilities and other troubles,” such as sexual assault, that Garnett grew up with. Thus, with this

new information, the audience begins to feel sorry for Garnett and may believe that she started

the fire accidentally.

Along with ethos and pathos, Stevenson also uses logos, building his reliability as well as

providing readers with solid evidence of what he says. When Stevenson discussed the interracial

affair between Karen Kelly and Walter McMillian, he explains why it was such a big topic in

Alabama. He says that “the state ban on interracial marriage in Alabama continued into the

twenty-first century,” and McMillian and Kelly met in 1986, (29). Thus, this helps the readers to

understand key concepts of the book, as well as acknowledge that Stevenson is a trustworthy

author and lawyer. Additionally, when Stevenson shares that “In 2002, there were about a

hundred people with mental retardation facing execution when the Court banned the death

penalty for people with intellectual disability,” (269). This allows the readers to grasp the

amounts of people that had disabilities but still were put under death row. Thus, it makes a reader

question the government and its tactics for how to put people on death row, and whether they are

innocent or not, as in McMillian’s case.

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Throughout Just Mercy, Stevenson successfully employs pathos, logos, and ethos to

portray his views on death row, on the corruption in the government systems, and on the unfair

treatment of certain groups of individuals. He uses these tools to bring his audience on the same

page as him and to show them his point of view, supported by evidence and by background

history of the convicts. Moreover, Stevenson uses these devices in an effective manner,

illustrating problems in the U.S. Justice System.

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Work Cited

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. N.p., n.d.
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Illustration relating to Just Mercy

Explanation of Picture

The picture shows the relationship between the U.S. government and the people of the

United States, as depicted by Bryan Stevenson in Just Mercy. The government is illustrated as

the big foot stomping down on civilians-but not just any civilian. The government is seen to

crack down on certain groups of people, mainly the colored, the incarcerated, the minors that

commit various offenses, and the poor. Meanwhile, the wealthy white people are seen enjoying

their time because they have no officers stopping them for no apparent reason, questioning them,

or accusing them of crimes that they didn’t commit. The picture shows the inequality and

injustice in the government today, as explained by Stevenson.

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Writer’s Memo

Throughout both parts of the rough draft, I tried to incorporate key components of Just

Mercy. This proved to be somewhat difficult because of the many themes throughout the book,

such as the treatment of the incarcerated and the corruption of the government. However,

narrowing my topic down to the ways that Bryan Stevenson persuades the audience and conveys

his opinions helped me in writing the essay. I personally found that Stevenson is a convincing

author and that he wrote an influential book. Thus, each paragraph focused on a new persuasive

method used by Stevenson, allowing me to break down the concepts in the book. Part two was

easier because I had my thoughts laid out in part one already. Thus, it was a matter of converting

it into a drawing.

The rough draft and final draft aren’t very different from each other. The rough draft

definitely made it easier to write the final draft because there weren’t many changes needed. I

did, however, make my summary shorter and edit a literary device in order to make the essay

more fluid and properly structured. The drawing for part two was unchanged except for the fact

that it is now colored. Furthermore, the themes of both the essay and the drawing remain

unchanged. The rough draft was a major step for writing the final draft of the essay and the

making the final draft for part two. Moreover, the feedback that came from it definitely helped.