PACG Book Club - Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson
Monday, June 16th at 5:15 pm - in person
3420 Jersey Ridge Rd
Davenport, IA (map)
PACG Book Club
In June we will read and discuss Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson. Stephenson started a law office in Montgomery, Alabama as a young lawyer to defend the poor, victims of mass incarceration, and especially those on death row, including a Black man clearly framed for murder. He is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.
There is also a movie, Just Mercy, based on Bryan Stephenson's memoir. Learn more both about the book and the movie at the Equal Justice Initiative website.
If you want to come on Zoom, contact me for the link.
Alta Price (she/her)
Here is more about Just Mercy from Goodreads:
"An unforgettable true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to end mass incarceration in America — from one of the most inspiring lawyers of our time."
"Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law office in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned."
"Just Mercy tells the story of EJI, from the early days with a small staff facing the nation’s highest death sentencing and execution rates, through a successful campaign to challenge the cruel practice of sentencing children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects designed to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice."
"One of EJI’s first clients was Walter McMillian, a young Black man who was sentenced to die for the murder of a young white woman that he didn’t commit. The case exemplifies how the death penalty in America is a direct descendant of lynching — a system that treats the rich and guilty better than the poor and innocent."