Bryan Stevenson's Use Of Punishment In The Justice System

The Justice System has been telling you that more punishment is better for the society, but is it really? Bryan Stevenson sheds light on this subject, specifically on pages 36-41, to present his message that the justice system is way too cruel and that there needs to be change in order to move forward for the future. Bryan Stevenson uses specific instances of the prejudice that embodies the system, the cruel and unusual treatment that is brought out through punishment, and the judgement that is left on a person after they have been involved in the Justice system. These are all used to point to his idea that we need to have mercy in the justice system. The first story Bryan Stevenson presents to enhance his message is the prejudice of the justice system. On page 37 it explains, “At six …show more content…
On page 37 it states, “The rapidly growing prison population inevitably led to a deterioration in the conditions of confinement.” Bryan Stevenson uses diction in this quote with the word inevitably. Bryan used this word to point out how cruel the justice system is and getting worse. It is just cruel already that the justice system has extreme punishment for the smallest of crimes and because of that it “inevitably” causes jails and prison to make the spaces tighter so they can fit more people in. That makes it even more cruel on prisoners as if it wasn’t hard enough. Tight spaces are extremely cruel on the brain and body where people who are in confinement can have hallucinations and can lead some people to try to suicide. Bryan displayed this to the readers because if the justice system was more about giving people mercy and rehabilitating people back into society there wouldn’t be a rise in prison population and confinement spaces. The justice system has strayed to far away from trying to get prisoners back into society to punishing them. Lastly Bryan uses organization structure and symbolism when he explains the time he was involved with the