Bryan Stevenson on Changing the Criminal Justice System on Behalf of Children

Summary

Bryan Stevenson is an American lawyer, social justice activist and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. He is also author of the bestselling 2014 memoir “Just Mercy,” which details his work on behalf of those who receive unequal treatment in the criminal justice system, including children.

“I went to law school because I was concerned about inequality and injustice,” Stevenson says. “And it didn’t seem like those were priorities in my first year of law school.”
Stevenson helped to push a Supreme Court decision that prohibits sentencing children to death or life imprisonment without parole.

Thirty years later, he’s still at it. Along with his colleagues at the Equal Justice Initiative, he’s still taking the kinds of cases he documented in his 2014 bestselling memoir “Just Mercy.”

Changing the criminal justice system on behalf of children.mp4

Changing the Criminal Justice System On Behalf of Children

Discussion Questions

What are some of Stevenson’s goals and accomplishments?
Who is Bryan Stevenson, and what organization is he a part of?
Why does Stevenson think it’s important to defend those accused of a crime?
When and Where has Stevenson argued about prohibitions on children being sentenced to death or life without parole?
How does Stevenson see the criminal justice system as unequal or unfair?
What do you think Stevenson means when he says, “We are all more than the worst thing we have ever done.” Do you think children who commit very serious crimes should have the opportunity to become “more than the worst thing [they] have ever done?”
After watching this interview, why do you think Stevenson called his memoir “Just Mercy”? What do you think “just mercy” means?

Adapted from: “Bryan Stevenson on Changing the Criminal Justice System on Behalf of Children.” PBS NewsHour Extra, PBS NewsHour, www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/bryan-stevenson-on-changing-the-criminal-justice-system-on-behalf-of-children. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.

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