“We’ve all been through a lot, Bryan, all of us. I know that some have been through more than others. but if we don’t expect more from each other, hope better for one another, and recover from the hurt we experience, we are surely doomed.”
Just Mercy is truly essential reading for all Americans. Our justice system is so broken – and Bryan Stevenson provides stories about real people who have suffered because of it. There’s not much I can say about this book that hasn’t already been said, but I can say that I have waffled back and forth on the death penalty for years. It really depended on the day, or the news I had most recently read, that swayed my opinion either for or against it. This book solidified my opinion – we need to abolish the death penalty. There are too many people who have been failed by our justice system, failed by a lack of education, or social programs, support, love, care, for those in power to fairly decide if someone should be put to death.
“We’ve given up on rehabilitation, education, and services for the imprisoned because providing assistance to the incarcerated is apparently too kind and compassionate.”
Just Mercy is one of those books that will move you to ACT. This isn’t just an educational read, it’s a motivational read. There are a lot of tough topics covered throughout this book, but I urge you not to look away.
“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.”
Read with Aimee 