Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson
Discussion at St. Matthews Episcopal Church
November 8, 2015
Discussion topics
1. How did you react to the book?
2. What is happening in Kentucky regarding criminal justice, imprisonment, and the death penalty?
3. What can we do, individually or as a group?
Myths of racial difference that still plague us (299)
1, Slavery
2. Convict leasing
3. Jim Crow
4. Mass incarceration
Major characters
Character
Bryan Stevenson
Page
2
Identification
Harvard grad who moves to Atlanta
to work with Southern Prisoners
Defense Committee
Comments
Starts Equal Justice Initiative
in Montgomery
Prisoner on death row; formerly a
businessman in Monroe County
Walter’s wife
Released after 6 years on
death row
Judge Robert E. Lee Key
20
Walter McMillian
(“Johnny D.”)
Minnie McMillian
21
Karen Kelly
26
Ronda Morrison
30
Ralph Meyers
31
Bill Hooks
30
Concocts story about Walter and
Ronda’s murder—50
Vickie Lyn Pitman
32
Murder victim
Charles Bliss
35
Horace Dunkins
71
Bryan’s law school classmate and
Atlanta roommate
Execution was botched
Herbert Richardson
72
26
White woman who was Walter’s
lover (while he was married)
18-yr-old white college student found
dead at Monroe Cleaners, where she
worked
White associate of Karen
Traumatized Vietnam war veteran; on
death row
Concocted a story about
Walter being involved in
Ronda’s murder—49
Later recanted—132
Later recanted--215
Karen K. and Ralph Meyers
were implicated
His new bride and family
attend his execution to “Old
Rugged Cross”—87
Calls to say Hooks couldn’t have
been at the murder scene
New Monroe D.A.
Darnell Houston
105
Indicted for perjury—107;
charges are dropped
Former defense attorney
Finally agrees to drop charges
against Walter
Attacked in jail, he’s moved
to a juvenile detention
facility; he later goes to
college.
Tom Chapman
107
Charlie
115
14-yr-old facing life in prison for
shooting his mother’s boyfriend
Michel O’Connor
130
Stevenson’s associate
Trina Garnett
148
Ian Manuel
151
Unintentionally set house on fire,
killing 2 boys
Shot woman during a robbery; she
later testified for him
Antonio Nuñez
154
Avery Jenkins
186
Older men pressured him into a
crime; no one was injured
Mentally ill prisoner
George Daniel
189
Mentally ill prisoner
Tom Taylor
214
Alabama Bureau of Investigation
investigator
Marsha Colby
227
Had stillborn son; tried for murdering
him
Joe Sullivan
256
13-yr-old robbed home and was
accused of rape. (Victim could not ID
him.) Sentenced to life without
parole.
Sentenced to life; held under
bad conditions—238; freed
after 10 years
Sentenced to adult prison;
assaulted repeatedly; kept in a
wheelchair in a cage;
sentence reduced (302)
Jimmy Dill
Rosa Parks
Johnnie Carr
Joshua Carter, R. Caston
283
291
291
303
Friend of Rosa Parks
Both had long sentences
Both finally released--306
Serving life in prison.
Became pregnant by a guard.
In solitary confinement for 18
yrs because he was vulnerable
due to size; educated himself
in prison. Sentence reduced.
Sentenced to life in prison;
sentence reduced
Always asked for milkshakes
Relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases
• Life without parole for juveniles in non-homicide crimes is unconstitutional—Graham v. Florida, 560
U.S. 48 (2010)
• Mandatory life without parole for juveniles is unconstitutional —Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455
(2012) (Bryan Stevenson argued)
• Does Miller apply retroactively?—Montgomery v. Louisiana (pending—argued Oct. 13, 2015)
• Officials involved in McMillian’s case could not be sued— McMillian v. Monroe County, Alabama, 520
U.S. 781 (1997)
J. Fischer 2015