Just Mercy

One of the best books I've ever read. I'm so glad I picked this up (based on a friend's Facebook recommendation last year).

Reading Just Mercy made me angry and sad. The stories within, about gross, terrible miscarriages of justice, are tragic. They speak to inequality, racism, elitism, and deep wounds in our society that we don't like to talk about and have made little recent progress towards healing. It's unbelievable that the large parts of this country still have not moved past the legacy of slavery and the Civil War, that there is still so much racial injustice, but in ways that are pernicious and hidden.

I was anti-death penalty before I picked up this book, but I didn't know how truly unequal and capricious it was until after I read it. The lack of justice in our judicial system is astounding.

I can't believe we executed children for a long time in this country, and that up until the last 5 years they could still be sentenced to die in prison. I can't believe that more than 150 people on death row have been exonerated since the 1970's. I can't believe that we have jailed millions of people, largely people of color, for petty crimes in the last few decades.

I like Bryan's maxim: “Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done”. This is a good and useful way to look at the world.