Feb 18, 2020 ¡ The film follows Stevensonâs earliest days with the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, and his struggles to fight for McMillian in the face of racism, intimidation, and malfeasance. Stevenson joined the nonprofit organization that counsels those who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons ...
Oct 20, 2014 ¡ In one of his most famous cases, Stevenson helped exonerate a man on death row. Walter McMillian was convicted of killing 18-year-old Ronda Morrison, who was found under a clothing rack at a dry ...
Stevenson awkwardly blurts out apologies that heâs just a law student and not a real lawyer yet, but Henry feels relieved. Stevenson relaxes, and the two men end up talking for hours. The guard treats Henry roughly while returning him to his cell, and Henry sings a religious hymn, causing Stevenson to feel uplifted.
Just Mercy: Chapter 10. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Just Mercy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Stevenson writes about the history of the mentally ill and disabled in in the American prison system. Up to the nineteenth century, mentally ill individuals often ended up incarcerated.
He was depicted in the legal drama Just Mercy which is based on his memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, which tells the story of Walter McMillian....Bryan StevensonOccupationDirector of Equal Justice Initiative Professor at New York University School of LawKnown forFounding Equal Justice Initiative5 more rows
A 1985 graduate of Harvard, with both a master's in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a JD from the School of Law, Bryan Stevenson joined the clinical faculty at New York University School of Law in 1998.
Walter McMillianWalter McMillian was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. Bryan Stevenson took on Mr. McMillian's case in postconviction. EJI proved the State's witnesses had lied on the stand.
Stevenson is a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Walter McMillian (left) celebrates with family after Bryan Stevenson won his release from death row in 1993.
Bryan Stevenson wins Supreme Court ruling that dementia may be grounds for overturning a death sentence. Professor of Clinical Law Bryan Stevenson won a key ruling for a death row client when the US Supreme Court held for the first time that dementia may be grounds for overturning a death sentence.Apr 8, 2019
How many lawyers had Stevenson met before he started law school? None.
The Book. An unforgettable true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America â from one of the most inspiring lawyers of our time.
Just Mercy is based on the true story of a black man, Walter McMillian. So, the characters Stevenson, McMillian, and Eva Ansley are based on real-life people, who were a part of the case. Moreover, Just Mercy is an adaptation of Stevenson's memoir with the same name.Jun 15, 2020
1988Walter McMillianState:AlabamaAdditional Convictions:RobberyReported Crime Date:1986Convicted:1988Exonerated:19938 more rowsâ˘Sep 18, 2014
$1,163,978Bryan Stevenson made $1,163,978 in total compensation as Chief Legal Officer at Arcosa Inc in 2019. $830,300 was received as Total Cash, $321,918 was received as Equity and $11,760 was received as Pension and other forms of compensation. This information is derived from proxy statements filed for the 2019 fiscal year.
Christy StevensonHoward Stevenson, JrBryan Stevenson/Siblings
Bryan Stevenson, American lawyer and founder of the human rights organisation Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), has dedicated his life to challenging America's unequal justice system.Feb 10, 2021
Amid bomb threats to the office, Stevenson receives the judgeâs ruling from Walterâs hearing: No relief is granted because Ralph was perjuring himself at either the trial or the hearing. Stevenson notes that the judge addressed none of the legal claims or the witness statements aside from Ralphâs testimony. Stevenson remains optimistic about their chances in the Alabama appeals court, however, because his organization has won many reversals on death penalty cases.
Stevenson knows heâs unlikely to save Herbertâs life because Supreme Court rulings have made it harder to block executions. Stevenson identifies several issues: Herbertâs case was not a capital murder case; his past trauma should have excluded him from the death penalty; and the death sentence wasnât imposed with careful consideration. Stevenson obtains a court hearing to present evidence about Herbertâs intent, but the judge refuses the petition. At the hearing, Stevenson meets the victimâs family, who do not believe Herbert should be executed. Stevenson appeals for a stay to the Supreme Court, which is denied only hours before the execution.
Stevenson continues working at his nonprofit organization to provide legal representation to Alabamians. Meanwhile, he continues to work on many cases in various Southern states, helping families of Black people who died at the hands of the police. One night, while Stevenson is sitting in his car outside his apartment listening to music, the police arrive. As Stevenson gets out of the car, one officer draws his gun, and the other physically restrains Stevenson. They search his car without cause and call in his license until eventually letting him go. Stevenson learns that neighbors had reported a suspected burglar. He files a complaint with the police department but canât stop thinking about the incident. Stevenson eventually meets with the deputy chief of police, who apologizes.
Bryan Stevenson is a Harvard law student in the summer of 1983 when the book opens. After growing increasingly disillusioned by his esoteric and abstract classes, Stevenson finally discovers meaningful work when he interns for the Atlanta-based Southern Prisoners Defense Committee (SPDC), which provides legal representation to impoverished people on death row. Stevenson has come to the prison to meet his first client, Henry, to deliver the news that Henry will not be executed this year, and the SPDC is still trying to assign him a lawyer. Stevenson awkwardly blurts out apologies that heâs just a law student and not a real lawyer yet, but Henry feels relieved. Stevenson relaxes, and the two men end up talking for hours. The guard treats Henry roughly while returning him to his cell, and Henry sings a religious hymn, causing Stevenson to feel uplifted.
Chapter Three: Trials and TribulationâPart II. The second part of Chapter Three explains that in another section of the prison, Ralph broke down and called Sheriff Tate, offering to testify against Walter to get off death row.
Soon after Stevensonâs meeting with Walterâs family, Stevenson receives a call from Darnell Houston, a young Black man who worked with Bill Hooks. Darnell tells Stevenson that on the day of the Morrison murder, Hooks was at work with him. Stevenson considers refiling Darnellâs affidavit as new evidence necessitating a new trial before continuing the appeal process. Before he can do so, however, Stevenson gets a call from Darnell from jail: Darnell was arrested for perjury based on his story. Stevenson meets with District Attorney Tom Chapman. Stevenson quickly determines that Chapman is convinced of Walterâs guilt and brings up Darnellâs perjury charge, which is illegal. Chapman says since the judge denied the motion to reopen the case, he will drop the perjury charge. Chapman explains that he doesnât care that Darnellâs story proves Bill Hooks lied, and to Stevensonâs dismay, he continues to defend what happened at Walterâs trial. Stevenson then talks to Darnell, who expresses fears about speaking up again. Stevenson realizes that it will be hard to prove Walterâs innocence when any witnesses can be intimidated by the law. He decides to focus on the appeal.
In 1989, Stevenson opens the new nonprofit legal services center in Alabama, later named the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). He faces numerous obstacles with staffing and funding but perseveres. Almost immediately, Stevenson attempts to prevent the executions of two menâMichael Lindsey and Horace Dunkinsâbut is unsuccessful. Lindsey was sentenced to life without parole, but the judge overrode the jury and changed it to a death sentence. In Alabama, this practice is allowed, and judges often override life sentences to appear tough on crime to voters. Dunkins suffered from an intellectual disability, and at the time of his execution, the Supreme Court had not yet banned the practice of executing condemned people with disabilities.
The movie is based on lawyer Bryan Stevenson's 2014 bestselling memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Stevenson is portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in the movie.
The real Eva Ansley (left) pictured circa 1992 and Brie Larson (right) as Ansley in the Just Mercy movie.
From the information available about the real Eva Ansley, it seems that the movie rather accurately captures her role in helping Bryan Stevenson with Walter McMillian's case, along with her role at the Equal Justice Initiative, which she formed with Stevenson in 1989 and still holds the title of Operations Director.
McMillian, a father of nine who held two jobs, was known in the community for having an ongoing affair with a white woman named Karen Kelly (pictured below during a 60 Minutes interview ). In addition, one of McMillian's sons had married a white woman.
Enlarge Image. âJust Mercyâ by Bryan Stevenson. Courtesy. In the 1970s, the South still clung to the disgraceful legacy of racist Jim Crow laws that had been struck down throughout the â50s and â60s.
Jordan as a young lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, who appeals the wrongful murder charge of Walter McMillian, an Alabama black man played by Jamie Foxx, was re-released on streaming ...
Kelly later got together with a drug addict, Ralph Myers, who pinned the shocking 1986 shooting death of an 18-year-old white woman, Ronda Morrison, on McMillian under police pressure. Myers also accused the innocent man of sodomizing him â a double whammy of Deep South taboos.
The jury was ambivalent. They sentenced McMillian to life imprisonment, and Judge Robert E. Lee Key went one step further, overruling their decision and giving him the death penalty. Enlarge Image. Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson Equal Justice Initiative.
Tim Adams interviews Bryan Stevenson, âAmericaâs Mandelaâ. The Equal Justice Initiative persuaded a Florida prison to release Ian Manuel from solitary confinement for one hour so that this picture could be taken. Photograph: bryanstevenson.com.
Ian spent 18 years in uninterrupted solitary confinement. Once a month Ian was allowed to make a phone call. Soon after he arrived in prison, on Christmas Eve 1992, he used his call to reach out to Debbie Baigre, the woman he shot.
Solitary confinement at Apalachee means living in a concrete box the size of a walk-in closet.