The Justice System In Just Mercy By Bryan Stevenson

Really, no one argues that those living in poverty hold a disadvantage. Not being in possession of any significant wealth makes for a much more difficult lifestyle: poor living conditions, less food, and lower social status. But technically, the poor ought to be equal to everyone else. After all, those with less money than others still remain citizens of the United States and human beings, right? However, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson shows that your wealth greatly affects your treatment in the justice system. Many instances of poor people receiving convictions for crimes they did not commit are described in this book. They go to jail or prison for excessive amounts of time while a person of greater social status might get off with just a fine. Lawyers purposely neglect their cases and they are unnecessarily convicted. In,Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson well illustrates that those who are lower class are at a great disadvantage within the justice system because they are victims of prejudice, they cannot afford effective …show more content…
This is likely the biggest problem in the justice system. The court convicted Walter because he was black. They needed someone to blame for the Morrison murder and Walter already held a reputation that made them willing to get rid of him. Sheriff Tate was under a lot of public pressure to arrest someone, as shown in this quote, “Based on their personal knowledge of Walter’s whereabouts at the time of the Morrison murder, family members, church members, black pastors, and others all pleaded with Sheriff Tate to release McMillian. Tate wouldn’t do it. The arrest had been too long in the making to admit another failure” (52). He probably wouldn’t have been so eager if the suspect was a rich white man. Everyone has the same value and the justice system will not be fair until we admit that we have not been treating everyone that