Analysis Of The Book Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

The relationships between police and racial minorities present some of the more difficult problems in policing throughout the world. Such relationships can be pleasant, but they often are challenging. For example, minorities may be deprived of police safety and other services to which they are permitted to. More specifically, police may refrain from addressing criminal behavior like domestic violence within a particular minority group because they believe that members of that group typically take part in such behavior.

In the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson, the author is a lawyer and founder of the Equal Injustice Initiative who helps and defends those that are in desperate needs. Stevenson tells different stories of different cases that he had through the course of his professional career. One of the most heartbreaking stories that Stevenson shares on his books is about a boy named Charlie. Charlie is a fourteen years old who murdered his stepfather because he was abusive with his mom and left her unconscious on the floor. Charlie was sentenced to an adult prison because his stepfather was an ex-police officer. When Steven heard about Charlie’s case he ran to the prison to go see him and the first thing that Charlie tells Stevenson is how every night he would get sexually abused in prison by so many men ,and how they would do really awful things to him. “Florida is one of a few states that allows the prosecutor to decide to charge a child in adult court for certain crimes and has no minimum age for trying a child as an adult.”(Stevenson). Charlie’s case is not an unusual one. There are hundreds of prisoners currently in US prisons who are suffering ridiculous prison sentences while other prisoners with more violent, heinous, and terrible crimes have been sentenced to lesser time in jail or are already out. In order to understand why this is still a problem, it’s important to first understand the current issues facing prisons today and what effects come from these issues. Then

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption is a story of innocents sentenced to death row (2015). As an attorney at law, he sheds light on the fraudulent Criminal Justice System with the corruption of cops and prison guards, bribed witnesses, and paid off judges. Written in first person, Stevenson’s (2015) account depicts 50 years of debasement of the Criminal Justice System. Telling the accounts of corruption in first person and using dialogue that included the actual victims conversations allowed his readers to be invested in the story. His vocabulary and the stories used, made the reader realize that corruption takes place in the United States Criminal Justice System both in history and continues through today.

Chapter 4 in The Color of Justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America, was about the relations between society and law enforcement officers. This has been a major topic, especially in the United States for a long time. The unfortunate statistic that minorities are more likely to encounter being killed, arrested, and victimized by excessive physical force; has been a real issue even in today’s society. However, police departments are trying to combat the way police officers interact with the community; especially those of color. Although steps have been takes there are still some instances where police aggression happens. With all of the issues that arise between certain minority populated community’s police it is evident that conflict

Throughout the last one hundred and fifty years, there has been a history of tension and conflict between the police and minority communities in the United States. In principle, the police exist to enforce the law and protect all citizens regardless of race or ethnic background, yet police departments across the country have been repeatedly accused of targeting and harassing racial minorities, and of failing to root out racist attitudes and practices within their ranks. In recent years, high profile cases such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angles and the assault on Abner Louima in New York have only served to heighten concerns over the mistreatment of minorities by the police, resulting in widespread calls for major legal and institutional reforms. The recent shootings of Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, and Terrance Crutcher underscore the danger Black men and boys face when they cross paths with law enforcement officers. In the absence of a coordinated national strategy, state and local police departments have largely been left to develop their own solutions to the problems of policing minority communities and improving cultural sensitivity amongst their officers. Many departments have sought to reform recruitment and selection policies in the hope of attracting greater numbers of minority applicants, while others have instituted diversity training and education programs aimed at improving police understanding of minority cultures and communities. To date, however, these efforts have yielded mixed results. Some departments have achieved notable successes, but on the whole, relations between the police and minority communities across the country remain strained. of cultural diversity and the police.

Another factor in conflicts with this nation’s police force is the differences in races between American neighborhoods and their police force. In order to reduce the presence of racism in law enforcement, the race and ethnicities of the police force must be representative of the population they are responsible

Just Mercy was written in 2014 by Stevenson Bryan. This story takes place in Montgomery Alabama. This story is about the broken system of justice. How people are judged unfairly even in the supreme Court. Bryan Stevenson primarily focuses on death penalty cases and juveniles sentenced to life or death. He provides relief for those incarcerated also, he understands the need to fix this criminal justice system by focusing on poverty, and racial disparities. Stevenson chooses cases that did not receive justice. This book discusses the prison life and how they are treated. It also decides about the different cases and how each case has one theory. It provides additional insight into the rush to incarcerate for life people as young teenagers, putting them in an adult prison. Where they are certain to suffer from sexual, mentally and physical abuse.

Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, has many themes in his book. One of which is the importance of human life. He goes through many cases of which, in the end, he realizes that every human deserves empathy and mercy and a fair chance at living their lives. Throughout the novel there is one specific case that changes Stevenson’s perspective the most however. This case is the Walter McMillian case that demonstrates the unfairness that was tolerated for death row inmates. Stevenson expresses this theme throughout the book. Some examples are through the McMillian case, the mental patient case, the juvenile case, and his own experience.

Multicultural understanding is critical, as currently members of racial and ethnic minorities account for more than one in three Americans, and projections indicate that members of minorities will constitute a majority of the nation’s population by 2050. One of the most significant problems facing the police during the past three decades has been the tension, and often upright hostility, between the police and minority group citizens. Over the last few decades, minority representation has increased significantly in U.S. police departments. However, African America, Hispanic American, and other minorities are still seriously underrepresented in U.S. police departments.

The tension between law enforcement and minorities isn’t something new, however, in recent years the issue has taken center stage. As stated in the article effective policing relies on trust between the police and the community (pg. 116). According to this article, 70% percent of African Americans believed they were treated less fairly than their white counterparts (pg. 116). It is important to note that this program included inputs from both law enforcement and minorities. As a minority, and a potentially a future law enforcement officer it is refreshing to see both parties taken steps to mend the broken relationship. Though steps have been taken in law enforcement agency across the country, there is still much more to be

Data was recovered from a national survey of the United States conducted by authors between the months of October through December of 2002 (Whites, African Americans, and Hispanic adult residents of metropolitan areas). The sample data is similar of individuals residing in telephone households in urban and suburban areas with a minimum of 100,000 individuals. The researchers performed race comparisons-within the survey-in which Blacks and Hispanics were significantly to a lesser extent of education and lower incomes; younger; live in cities rather than suburbs; live in neighborhoods with more serious crime; feel less safe in their neighborhoods; report greater exposure to media coverage of police misconduct; and have more frequent experiences with, and greater perceptions of, both police racial bias and police misconduct. The findings included; racial differences in attitudes towards police,the demographic factors, neighborhood crime conditions, citizens experiences, and mass media Brown, Ben, and William

In recent news, there has been many difficult discussions and news coverage on law enforcement's use of force. In particular, Minorities have uncertain and negative aspects of law enforcement's use of force because of the recent injustices in their society; Also, many don't know about the proper training of law enforcement and their force continuum, which causes this outlook as well. Injustices in law enforcement have become a significant issue of concern. Over the past two decades, minorities, in particular, have considered law enforcement unlawful in their communities. Minorities view police fearfully, opposed as a helpful outlet during a time of crisis. From the beating of Rodney King in 1991 to recent incidents such as the death of Sandra Bland (2015) and Eric Garner (2014), many of the minority community question where the importance of their safety lies within law enforcement. In fact, many of these injustices have also in caused protests and movements within the minority peer group, such as "Black Lives Matter." Law enforcement personnel initially taught how to respond to situations with the suspect by rules of the force continuum. (National Institute of Justice, 2009). The force continuum contains many layers from low threat and force, to use of force and lethal weapons seen as a threat. In real life factors and time, these situations can escalate in a matter of seconds. The primary concern of minorities is why so many minorities seen as a threat are?

Is racial bias an epidemic among law enforcement? The long history of racial tension between law enforcement and the public, namely in communities of color, certainly suggest so. The distrusts of the criminal justice system are not without merit; law enforcement has had a long history that includes racial biases and unfair treatment of minorities in this country. Race relation and discrimination are clearly in the forefront of modern law enforcement, particularly in the wake of high-profile cases, such as Ferguson, Statin Island, Tulsa, and other cities across the United States. However, the criminal justice system is not broken; law enforcement organizations can regain public trusts through effective leadership, transparency, and fostering diversity. Former FBI Director, James Comey was very transparent in his speech at Georgetown University. Comey raised many compelling points in his speech on law enforcement and race relations; two of the most salient issues are unconscious biases and relationship building, while cynicism and lack of data, although critical, has an indirect influence on racial disparities.

This nation is reeling from a series of high-profile police shootings involving people of color and racial bias is the reason police officers interact differently with whites and people of color. It is crucial to address how racist ideologies were woven into the fabric of American culture which link directly to slavery and lay the foundation for racism in this country. Racial bias plays a pivotal role and defines the differences in human behavior which vastly affects America's law enforcement communities. It is imperative to resolve the crisis and restore trust between police officers and the communities in which they serve.

This nation is reeling from a series of high-profile police shootings involving people of color and racial bias is the reason police officers interact differently with whites and people of color. It is crucial to address how racist ideologies were woven into the fabric of American culture which link directly to slavery and laid the foundation for racism in this country. Racial bias plays a pivotal role and defines the differences in human behavior which vastly effects America's law enforcement communities. It is imperative to resolve the crisis and restore trust