Just Mercy_ A story of Justice and Redemption ( PDFDrive )

accessed April 30, 2014.

October 30, 1892: Allen Parker. Tuskegee University Archives; Tolnay, “NAACP Lynching Records.”
August 30, 1897: Jack Pharr. Tuskegee University Archives; Tolnay, “NAACP Lynching Records.”
September 2, 1897: Unknown. Tuskegee University Archives.
August 23, 1905: Oliver Latt. Tuskegee University Archives.
February 7, 1909: Will Parker. Tuskegee University Archives.
August 9, 1915: James Fox. Tuskegee University Archives; “Negro Lynched for Attacking Officer,” Montgomery

Advertiser (August 10, 1915). Tuskegee University Archives; Tolnay, “NAACP Lynching Records.”
August 9, 1943: Willie Lee Cooper. “NAACP Describes Alabama’s Willie Lee Case as Lynching,” Journal and Guide

(September 8, 1943); “NAACP Claims Man Lynched in Alabama,” Bee (September 26, 1943); “Ala. Workman
‘Lynched’ After Quitting Job,” Afro-American (September 18, 1943). Tuskegee University Archives.
May 7, 1954: Russell Charley. “Violence Flares in Dixie,” Pittsburgh Courier (June 5, 1954); “Suspect Lynching in Ala.
Town,” Chicago Defender (June 12, 1954); “Hint Love Rivalry Led to Lynching,” Chicago Defender (June 19, 1954);
“NAACP Probes ’Bama Lynching,” Pittsburgh Courier (June 26, 1954). Tuskegee University Archives.

CHAPTER TWO: STAND

1 Suicide, prisoner-on-prisoner violence … The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that
throughout the 1980s, several hundred incarcerated individuals died each year of suicide,
homicide, and other “unknown” reasons. Christopher J. Mumola, “Suicide and Homicide
in State Prisons and Local Jails,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (August 2005), available at
www.b​ js.g​ ov/​index.c​ fm?ty=​pbdetail&i​ id=1126, accessed April 30, 2014; Lawrence A.
Greenfield, “Prisons and Prisoners in the United States,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (April
1992), available at www.​bjs.gov/​index.cfm?t​ y=pbdetail&​ iid=1392.

2 I found Bureau of Justice statistics … In 1978, black people were eight times more
likely than whites to be killed by police officers. Jodi M. Brown and Patrick A. Langan,
“Policing and Homicide, 1976-1998: Justifiable Homicide by Police, Police Officers
Murdered by Felons,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (March 2001), available at www.b​ js.​
gov/​index.c​ fm?ty=pbdetail&​ iid=829, accessed April 30, 2014.

3 By the end of the twentieth century … By 1998, black people were still four times more
likely to be killed by the police than white people. Brown and Langan, “Policing and
Homicide, 1976–1998.”

4 the problem would get worse … In states with “Stand Your Ground” laws, the rate of
“justifiable” homicides of blacks more than doubled between 2005 and 2011, the period
when the majority of these laws were enacted. The rate of such homicides against whites
also rose, but only slightly, and the homicide rate against whites was much lower to begin
with. “Shoot First: ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws and Their Effect on Violent Crime and the
Criminal Justice System,” joint press release from the National Urban League, Mayors
Against Illegal Guns, and VoteVets.org (September 2013), available at http://n​ ul.​
iamempowered.​com/​content/m​ ayors-​against-​illegal-g​ uns-n​ ational-u​ rban-​league-v​ otevets-​
release-r​ eport-s​ howing-s​ tand-y​ our, accessed April 30, 2014.

CHAPTER THREE: TRIALS AND TRIBULATION

1 “We’re going to keep all you niggers”… McMillian v. Johnson, Case No. 93-A-699-N, P.
Exh. 12, Plaintiff’s Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary
Judgment (1994).

2 “At 8:40 P.M., a third charge of electricity”… Glass v. Louisiana, 471 U.S. 1080 (1985),
denying cert. to 455 So.2d 659 (La. 1984) (J. Brennan, dissenting).

3 In 1987, all forty … Ruth E. Friedman, “Statistics and Death: The Conspicuous Role of
Race Bias in the Administration of Death Penalty,” Berkeley Journal of African-American
Law and Policy 4 (1999): 75. See also Danielle L. McGuire and John Dittmer, Freedom
Rights: New Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement (Lexington: University of Kentucky,
2011).

4 In 1945, the Supreme Court upheld a Texas statute … Akins v. Texas, 325 U.S. 398
(1945).

5 Local jury commissions used statutory requirements … David Cole, “Judgment and
Discrimination,” in No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System
(New York: New Press, 1999), 101–31.

6 In the 1970s, the Supreme Court ruled … Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357 (1979); Taylor
v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522 (1975).

7 In the mid-1960s, the Court held … Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 (1965).

8 The practice of striking all …“Illegal Racial Discrimination in Jury Selection: A
Continuing Legacy,” Equal Justice Initiative (2009), available at www.e​ ji.o​ rg/​files/​
EJI%20Race%20and%2​ 0Jury%20Report.​pdf, accessed April 30, 2014.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

1 In 91 percent of these cases …“The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override,” Equal
Justice Initiative (2011), 4, available at http://​ ​eji.​org/e​ ji/f​ iles/​Override_R​ eport.​pdf,
accessed April 30, 2014.

2 Alabama elects all of its judges … Billy Corriher, “Partisan Judicial Elections and the
Distorting Influence of Campaign Cash,” Center for American Progress (October 25, 2012),
available at www.​americanprogress.​org/i​ ssues/​civil-l​ iberties/​report/​2012/​10/​25/4​ 2895/​
partisan-​judicial-e​ lections-​and-the-​distorting-​influence-​of-​campaign-c​ ash/,​ accessed July 8,
2013.

3 Judge overrides are an incredibly potent … In November 2013, U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a blistering critique of Alabama’s continued use of judicial
override to impose death sentences in a dissent from the Court’s decision to not review the
issue. Joined by Justice Breyer, the Justices found serious constitutional defects in both
the politics surrounding judge override and the way it undermines the role of the jury.
Woodward v. Alabama (2013).

4 it’s not surprising that judge overrides …“The Death Penalty in Alabama,” 5.

5 As peculiar as the practice is … Harris v. Alabama, 513 U.S. 504 (1995); Spaziano v.
Florida, 468 U.S. 447 (1984).

6 Mr. Dunkins suffered from intellectual disabilities … See Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S.
302 (1989).

7 Thirteen years later … Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), explaining that a national
consensus had been reached against executing the mentally ill after state legislatures
adopted new laws limiting the practice following Penry.

8 They killed him … Peter Applebome, “2 Electric Jolts in Alabama Execution,” New York
Times (July 15, 1989), available at www.n​ ytimes.​com/1989/0​ 7/1​ 5/u​ s/2-​ electric​-jolts-i​ n-
alabama-​execution.h​ tml, accessed April 30, 2014; see also “Two Attempts at Execution
Kill Dunkins,” Gadsden Times (July 14, 1989), available at http://​news.google.​com/​
newspapers?id=​02cfAAAAIBAJ&s​ jid=3NQEAAAAIBAJ&​ pg=​3122%2​ C1675665, accessed
April 30, 2014.

9 The Court decided to bar claims … Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509 (1982).

10 the Court rejected a constitutional challenge … Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361
(1989); Penry, 492 U.S. at 305; McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987).

11 “Let’s get on with it”… Bryan Stevenson, “The Hanging Judges,” The Nation (October 14,
1996), 12.

12 “Mr. Stevenson, I’m calling to let you know”… Richardson v. Thigpen, 492 U.S. 934
(1989).

13 I thought about the botched execution … Applebome, “2 Electric Jolts in Alabama
Execution.”

CHAPTER FIVE: OF THE COMING OF JOHN

1 Monroe County is a “dry county”… Monroe County is now technically considered
“moist.” The city of Monroeville and Frisco have approved laws permitting the sale of
some alcoholic beverages.

CHAPTER SIX: SURELY DOOMED

1 Alabama had more juveniles sentenced to death … Victor L. Streib, Death Penalty for
Juveniles (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987).

2 While the Supreme Court had upheld … Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989);
Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815 (1988); Wilkins v. Missouri was consolidated with the
Stanford decision.

CHAPTER SEVEN: JUSTICE DENIED

1 We found court records revealing … Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972); Mooney
v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103 (1935).

2 Some states authorized the family … Peggy M. Tobolowsky, “Victim Participation in the
Criminal Justice Process: Fifteen Years after the President’s Task Force on Victims of
Crime,” New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement 25 (1999): 21, available at
http://​heinonline.org/​HOL/Page?handle=h​ ein.j​ ournals/n​ ejccc25&​div=7&​ g_sent=​
1&collection=j​ ournals, accessed April 30, 2014.

3 Thirty-six states enacted laws … Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 509n12 (1987).

4 The Court agreed … Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 506n8 (“We are troubled by the
implication that defendants whose victims were assets to their community are more
deserving of punishment than those whose victims are perceived to be less worthy”).

5 The Court’s decision was widely criticized … Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 827
(1991) (“A State may legitimately conclude that evidence about the victim and about the
impact of the murder on the victim’s family is relevant to the jury’s decision as to whether
or not the death penalty should be imposed”).

6 States found countless ways … Tobolowsky, “Victim Participation,” 48–95.

7 Some states made executions … Michael Lawrence Goodwin, “An Eyeful for an Eye—An
Argument Against Allowing the Families of Murder Victims to View Executions,” Brandeis
Journal of Family Law 36 (1997): 585, available at http://​heinonline.​org/HOL/P​ age?​
handle=hein.​journals/branlaj36&​div=38​&g_sent=1​&collection=​journals, accessed April
30, 2014.

8 Megan’s Law, for example … Scott Matson and Roxanne Lieb, “Megan’s Law: A Review
of State and Federal Legislation,” Washington State Institute for Public Policy (October
1997), available at www.​wsipp.w​ a.g​ ov/r​ ptfiles/m​ eganslaw.​pdf, accessed June 13, 2013.

9 Press coverage hyped the personal nature … Chris Greer and Robert Reiner, “Mediated
Mayhem: Media, Crime, Criminal Justice,” in The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, ed.
Mike Maguire, Rodney Morgan, and Robert Reiner (New York: Oxford University Press,
2002), 245–78.

10 The study conducted for that case … McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 286 (1987),
citing David C. Baldus et al., “Comparative Review of Death Sentences: An Empirical
Study of the Georgia Experience,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 74 (1983): 661.

11 In Alabama, even though 65 percent … American Bar Association, “Evaluating Fairness
and Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Alabama Death Penalty Assessment
Report” (June 2006), available at www.​americanbar.​org/c​ ontent/d​ am/aba/migrated/​
moratorium/​assessmentproject/alabama/r​ eport.​authcheckdam.​pdf, accessed June 14,
2013.

12 Black defendant and white victim pairings … McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 286–87,
citing Baldus et al., “Comparative Review”; U.S. General Accounting Office, Death Penalty

Sentencing: Research Indicates Pattern of Racial Disparities, 1990, GAO/GGD-90-57 (“In 82
percent of the studies, race of victim was found to influence the likelihood of being
charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered
whites were found to be more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered
blacks”).

CHAPTER EIGHT: ALL GOD’S CHILDREN

1 The extraordinarily high rates … The Chester Upland school district has in the past two
decades often ranked as the worst in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. James T. Harris
III, “Success amid Crisis in Chester,” Philly.com (February 16, 2012), available at http://​
articles.​philly.com/2​ 012-​02-​16/​news/3​ 1067474_1_school-​district-​curriculum-p​ arents-​and-​
guardians, accessed April 30, 2014.

2 Close to 46 percent … In 2012, it was estimated by the Census Bureau that 45.6 percent
of Chester’s residents under the age of eighteen lived below the federal poverty level. U.S.
Census Bureau, 2008–2012 American Community Survey, Chester city, Pennsylvania.

3 Defendants who are deemed incompetent … 50 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes §
7402.

4 Pennsylvania sentencing law was inflexible … Until 2012, anyone convicted of first- or
second-degree murder automatically received a sentence of life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102; 61 Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes § 6137. Life imprisonment without parole is possible, though no
longer mandatory, for juveniles convicted of first- or second-degree murder. 18
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 1102.1.

5 “This is the saddest case I’ve ever seen”… Liliana Segura, “Throwaway People: Teens
Sent to Die in Prison Will Get a Second Chance,” The Nation (May 28, 2012).

6 For a tragic crime committed at fourteen … Segura, “Throwaway People”;
Commonwealth v. Garnett, 485 A.2d 821 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1984).

7 It wasn’t until 2008 that most states … The Federal Bureau of Prisons adopted a policy
in 2008 that restricts the shackling of pregnant inmates. Federal Bureau of Prisons,
“Program Statement: Escorted Trips, No. 5538.05” (October 6, 2008), available at www.​
bop.g​ ov/​policy/p​ rogstat/5​ 538_005.​pdf, accessed April 30, 2014. Currently twenty-four
states have laws or policies that prevent or restrict the shackling of pregnant inmates or
inmates giving birth. Dana Sussman, “Bound by Injustice: Challenging the Use of Shackles
on Incarcerated Pregnant Women,” Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender 15 (2009): 477;
“State Standards for Pregnancy-Related Health Care and Abortion for Women in Prison,”
American Civil Liberties Union, available at www.​aclu.o​ rg/m​ aps/state-​standards-
pregnancy-r​ elated-​health-​care-​and-a​ bortion-​women-​prison-​map, accessed April 28, 2014.

8 The guard appealed … Garnett v. Kepner, 541 F. Supp. 241 (M.D. Pa. 1982).

9 She is one of nearly five hundred people … Paula Reed Ward, “Pa. Top Court Retains
Terms for Juvenile Lifers,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 30, 2013); “Juvenile Life
Without Parole (JLWOP) in Pennsylvania,” Juvenile Law Center, available at http://j​ lc.​
org/​current-​initiatives/​promoting-f​ airness-​courts/j​ uvenile-​life-​without-p​ arole/j​ lwop-​
pennsylvania, accessed April 26, 2014.

10 The correctional staff at the prison … Meg Laughlin, “Does Separation Equal
Suffering?” Tampa Bay Times (December 17, 2006).

11 Juveniles housed in adult prisons … In enacting the Prison Elimination Act of 2003,

Congress found that juveniles in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually
assaulted. 42 U.S.C. § 15601(4).

12 As he sank deeper into despair … Laughlin, “Does Separation Equal Suffering?”

13 By 2010, Florida had sentenced … Florida had sentenced a total of seventy-seven
juveniles to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses. Brief of
Petitioner, Graham v. Florida, U.S. Supreme Court (2009); Paolo G. Annino, David W.
Rasmussen, and Chelsea B. Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide Offenses:
Florida Compared to the Nation (2009), 2, table A.

14 several of whom were thirteen years old … Two thirteen-year-olds in Florida, including
Joe Sullivan, had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide
offenses. Annino, Rasmussen, and Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide
Offenses, chart E (2009).

15 All of the youngest …“Cruel and Unusual: Sentencing 13- and 14-Year-Old Children to
Die in Prison,” Equal Justice Initiative (2008), available at http://e​ ji.o​ rg/eji/f​ iles/C​ ruel%​
20and%​20Unusual%​202008_0.p​ df, accessed April 30, 2014.

16 Florida had the largest population … The United States is the only country in the world
that sentences juveniles to die in prison for non-homicide offenses, and Florida has
sentenced far more such offenders to life without parole than any other state. Annino,
Rasmussen, and Rice, Juvenile Life without Parole for Non-Homicide Offenses, chart E.

17 “He was excited to take his picture”… In re Nunez, 173 Cal.App. 4th 709, 720 (2009).

18 He got his hands on a gun … In re Nunez, 173 Cal.App. 4th 709, 720–21 (2009).

19 Many adults convicted of attempted murder …“Violent Crimes,” Florida Department of
Corrections, available at www.d​ c.s​ tate.​fl.u​ s/​pub/t​ imeserv/​annual/s​ ection2.​html, accessed
January 9, 2014; Matthew R. Durose and Patrick A. Langan, “Felony Sentences in State
Courts, 2004,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (July 2007), available at www.​bjs.​gov/​
content/pub/​pdf/fssc04.​pdf; “State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons 2004—
Statistical Tables,” Bureau of Justice Statistics (2007), available at www.bjs.​gov/content/​
pub/html/​ scscf04/scscf04mt.cfm, accessed January 10, 2013.

20 For instance, in the infamous … James Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro (New York:
Pantheon Books, 1994), 8.

21 Within hours of announcing … David I. Bruck, “Executing Teen Killers Again: The 14-
Year-Old Who, in Many Ways, Was Too Small for the Chair,” Washington Post (September
15, 1985).

22 Despite appeals from the NAACP … Bruck, “Executing Teen Killers Again.”

23 Witnesses to the execution … Bruck, “Executing Teen Killers Again.”

24 Recently, an effort has been launched … George Stinney’s family members are now
seeking a new trial or exoneration for Stinney through the court system. Hearings were
held in a South Carolina court in January 2014. Alan Blinder, “Family of South Carolina
Boy Put to Death Seeks Exoneration 70 Years Later,” New York Times (January 22, 2014);
Eliott C. McLaughlin, “New Trial Sought for George Stinney, Executed at 14,” CNN.com
(January 23, 2014).

25 Influential criminologists predicted …“Super-predator” language was commonly used
in conjunction with dire predictions that a vast increase in violent juvenile crime was
occurring or about to occur. See Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
U.S. Department of Justice, “Juvenile Justice: A Century of Change” (1999), 4–5, available
at www.ncjrs.​gov/​pdffiles1/​ojjdp/1​ 78993.pdf, accessed April 30, 2014. See, for example,
Sacha Coupet, “What to Do with the Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing: The Role of Rhetoric and
Reality About Youth Offenders in the Constructive Dismantling of the Juvenile Justice
System,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 148 (2000): 1303, 1307; Laura A. Bazelon,
“Exploding the Superpredator Myth: Why Infancy Is the Preadolescent’s Best Defense in
Juvenile Court,” New York University Law Review 75 (2000): 159. Much of the frightening
imagery was racially coded; see, for example, John J. DiIulio, “My Black Crime Problem,
and Ours,” City Journal (Spring 1996), available at www.c​ ity-​journal.o​ rg/html/​
6_2_my_black.h​ tml, accessed April 30, 2014 (“270,000 more young predators on the
streets than in 1990, coming at us in waves over the next two decades … as many as half
of these juvenile super-predators could be young black males”); William J. Bennett, John
J. DiIulio Jr., and John P. Walters, Body Count: Moral Poverty—And How to Win America’s
War Against Crime and Drugs (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996), 27–28.

26 Sometimes expressly focusing on black … John J. DiIulio Jr., “The Coming of the
Super-Predators,” Weekly Standard (November 27, 1995), 23.

27 Panic over the impending crime … Bennett, DiIulio, and Walters, Body Count, 27. See
also Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “Juvenile Justice.”

28 The juvenile population in America increased … See, for example, Elizabeth Becker,
“As Ex-Theorist on Young ‘Superpredators,’ Bush Aide Has Regrets,” New York Times
(February 9, 2001), A19.

29 In 2001, the surgeon general … U.S. Surgeon General, Youth Violence: A Report of the
Surgeon General (2001), ch. 1, available at www.​ncbi.n​ lm.​nih.g​ ov/books/N​ BK44297/​
#A12312, accessed April 30, 2014; see also U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “Challenging the Myths” (2001), 5, available at
www.​ncjrs.​gov/pdffiles1/o​ jjdp/​178995.p​ df, accessed April 30, 2014 (“[A]nalysis of
juvenile homicide arrests also leads to the conclusion that juvenile superpredators are
more myth than reality”).

30 We decided to publish a report …“Cruel and Unusual.”

Chapter NINE: I’M HERE

1 “Me, I can simply look”… McMillian v. Alabama, CC-87-682.60, Testimony of Ralph
Myers During Rule 32 Hearing, April 16, 1992.

CHAPTER TEN: MITIGATION

1 In the 1960s and 1970s … In these decades, legislative and judicial reforms tightened the
procedures by which individuals where subject to involuntary commitment. Stanley S.
Herr, Stephen Arons, and Richard E. Wallace Jr., Legal Rights and Mental Health Care
(Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983). In 1978, the United States Supreme Court raised
the burden on states seeking to have individuals involuntarily committed to mental health
hospitals from the low “preponderance of the evidence” standard to a more difficult “clear
and convincing evidence” standard. Addington v. Texas, 441 U.S. 418 (1978).

2 Today, over 50 percent of prison … Doris J. James and Lauren E. Glaze, “Mental Health
Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates,” Special Report, Bureau of Justice Statistics
(September 2006), available at http://​bjs.g​ ov/​content/​pub/p​ df/m​ hppji.p​ df, accessed July
2, 2013. This number breaks down to 56 percent percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of
federal prisoners, and 64 percent of local jail prisoners. In total, that accounts for an
estimated 1,264,300 inmates. This study is the most comprehensive recent study available
and yet was conducted in 2005, so numbers may have changed in more recent years.
However, current sources (2012–13) still cite this study, so I feel comfortable concluding
that it is still the most comprehensive and up-to-date source on the subject.

3 Nearly one in five prison … The category of “serious mental illness” includes
schizophrenia, schizophrenia spectrum disorder, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder,
brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, and psychotic disorders not otherwise
specified. This is distinguished from the more general category of “mental illness,” which
encompasses serious mental illness as well as other forms of mental illness. E. Fuller
Torrey, Aaron D. Kennard, Don Eslinger, Richard Lamb, and James Pavle, “More Mentally
Ill Persons Are in Jails and Prisons Than Hospitals: A Survey of the States,” Treatment
Advocacy Center (May 2010), available at www.t​ reatm​ entadvocacyc​ enter.o​ rg/storage/​
documents/f​ inal_jails_v_h​ ospitals_study.p​ df, accessed July 2, 2013.

4 In fact, there are more than three … Torrey et al., “More Mentally Ill Persons,” 1.

5 They began squabbling with each other … The dispute is discussed in George’s
subsequent appeals. Daniel v. State, 459 So. 2d 944 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984); Daniel v.
Thigpen, 742 F. Supp. 1535 (M.D. Ala. 1990).

6 George was convicted … Daniel v. State, 459 So. 2d 944 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984).

7 We eventually won a favorable ruling … Daniel v. Thigpen, 742 F. Supp. 1535 (M.D. Ala.
1990).

8 Confederate Memorial Day was declared a state holiday … Confederate Memorial Day
was first celebrated in Alabama in 1901. See The World Almanac and Encyclopedia 1901
(New York: Press Publishing Co., 1901), 29; “Confederate Memorial Day,” Encyclopedia of
Alabama, available at www.​encyclopediaofalabama.​org/​face/​Article.j​ sp?i​ d=h-​1663,
accessed April 28, 2014. The holiday remains in the state code today. Ala. Code § 1-3-8.

9 When black veterans returned … The 1948 platform of the Dixiecrat party stated, in
part: “We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race; the

constitutional right to choose one’s associates; to accept private employment without
governmental interference, and to earn one’s living in any lawful way. We oppose the
elimination of segregation, the repeal of miscegenation statutes, the control of private
employment by Federal bureaucrats called for by the misnamed civil rights program.”
“Platform of the States Rights Democratic Party, August 14, 1948,” The American
Presidency Project, available at www.​presidency.​ucsb.edu/w​ s/​index.​php?​pid=2​ 5851#​
axzz1iGn93BZz, accessed April 28, 2014.

10 In fact, it was in the 1950s … Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina all began to fly the
Confederate battle flag in symbolic opposition to the Brown decision. James Forman Jr.,
“Driving Dixie Down: Removing the Confederate Flag from Southern State Capitols,” Yale
Law Journal 101 (1991): 505.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: I’LL FLY AWAY

1 In a landmark ruling, New York Times v. Sullivan … New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376
U.S. 254 (1964).

2 When he was first arrested … Several local newspapers highlighted the sodomy charge.
Mary Lett, “McMillian Is Charged with Sodomy,” Monroe Journal (June 18, 1987); “Myers
Files Sodomy Charges Against McMillan [sic],” Evergreen Courant (June 18, 1987); Bob
Forbish, “Accused Murderer Files Sodomy Charges Against His Accomplice,” Brewton
Standard (June 13–14, 1987).

3 “Those entering the courtroom”… Dianne Shaw, “McMillian Sentenced to Death,”
Monroe Journal (September 22, 1988).

4 Despite all of the evidence … On the same day it published an article on the ongoing
hearings in the McMillian case, the Mobile Press Register reminded readers in another
article that Walter McMillian had been arrested and charged with the Pittman murder.
Connie Baggett, “Ronda Wasn’t Only Girl Killed,” Mobile Press Register (July 5, 1992). A
Monroe Journal article about the McMillian proceedings also mentioned Walter
McMillian’s indictment in the Pittman murder. Marilyn Handley, “Tape About Murder
Played at Hearing for the First Time,” Monroe Journal (April 23, 1992).

5 “Convicted Slayer Wanted in East Brewton”…“Convicted Slayer Wanted in EB
Student Murder,” Brewton Standard (August 22, 1988).

6 “Myers and McMillian were part”… Connie Baggett, “Infamous Murder Leaves
Questions,” Mobile Press Register (July 5, 1992).

7 “Too many of these [out-of-town] writers”… Editorial, “ ‘60 Minutes’ Comes to Town,”
Monroe Journal (June 25, 1992).

8 The Journal added that Chapman offered … Marilyn Handley, “CBS Examines Murder
Case,” Monroe Journal (July 8, 1992).

9 The local writers complained … Connie Baggett, “DA: TV Account of McMillian’s
Conviction a ‘Disgrace,’ ” Mobile Press Register (November 24, 1992).

10 The attorney general’s motion … Motion from State to Hold Case in Abeyance,
McMillian v. State, 616 So. 2d 933 (Ala. Crim. App. 1993), filed February 3, 1993.

11 But Havel had said that these … Václav Havel, “Never Hope Against Hope,” Esquire
(October 1993), 68.

CHAPTER TWELVE: MOTHER, MOTHER

1 Cook, who worked at the elementary school … State v. Colbey, 2007 WL 7268919 (Ala.
Cir. Ct. 2007) (No. 2005-538), 824.

2 Enstice had a history of prematurely … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1576.

3 The pathologist subsequently performed an autopsy … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1511–21.

4 She not only concluded … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1584.

5 In fact, nationwide, most women …“Case Summaries for Current Female Death Row
Inmates.” Death Penalty Information Center, available at www.d​ eathpenaltyinfo.​org/c​ ase-​
summaries-​current-​female-​death-r​ ow-​inmates, accessed August 13, 2013.

6 She testified that her conclusion … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1585.

7 Dr. McNally testified that Mrs. Colbey’s … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1129, 1133.

8 Enstice’s conclusion was … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1607.

9 Police investigators went into her home … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1210, 1271, 1367.

10 Ms. Colbey consistently maintained … State v. Colbey, 2007, 1040, 1060.

11 Ms. Colbey rejected the State’s offer … Supplemental Record at State v. Colbey, 155.

12 Time magazine called the prosecution … John Cloud, “How the Casey Anthony Murder
Case Became the Social-Media Trial of the Century,” Time (June 16, 2011).

13 The criminalization of infant mortality … This phenomenon of charging women,
particularly poor women and women of color, who give birth to stillborn babies or
children who live only a short time, now seems commonplace to a casual observer of
current events. Michelle Oberman, “The Control of Pregnancy and the Criminalization of
Femaleness,” Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law, and Justice 7 (2013): 1; Ada Calhoun, “The
Criminalization of Bad Mothers,” New York Times (April 25, 2012).

14 This new information led the prosecutor … Stephanie Taylor, “Murder Charge
Dismissed in 2006 Newborn Death,” Tuscaloosa News (April 9, 2009).

15 We won her freedom after establishing … Carla Crowder, “1,077 Days Later, Legal
Tangle Ends; Woman Free,” Birmingham News (July 18, 2002).

16 In time, the Alabama Supreme Court … Ex parte Ankrom, 2013 WL 135748 (Ala.
January 11, 2013); Ex parte Hicks, No. 1110620 (Ala. April 18, 2014).

17 Some jurors indicated that they found … Supplemental Record, State v. Colbey, 2007,
516–17, 519–20, 552.

18 Several revealed that they had … Supplemental Record, State v. Colbey, 2007, 426–27,
649.

19 Another juror admitted trusting … Supplemental Record, State v. Colbey, 2007, 674.

20 Approximately 75 to 80 percent … Angela Hattery and Earl Smith, Prisoner Reentry and
Social Capital: The Long Road to Reintegration (Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010).

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CRUEL AND UNUSUAL

1 Joe was made to say in court …

DEFENSE COUNSEL: All right. If you can’t identify me, then I may not have to kill you.

DEFENDANT: If you cannot identify me, I maybe won’t kill you.

WITNESS: It sounds—there’s a tone in your voice that’s just like that, only you said it very loud to me that time in a

belligerent way.

PROSECUTOR: I don’t want to argue about it. Are you able to say that’s the voice of the person?

WITNESS: There’s a tone in that voice that makes me know its that person.

PROSECUTOR: So you are saying the person who just spoke to you is the person that said that to you that day?

WITNESS: It sounds like the voice.

PROSECUTOR: All right.

WITNESS: It’s been six months. It’s hard, but it does sound similar. But it’s said in a different way. See, the tone—it was

said to me very belligerent in a loud voice.

Tr. I 86–88 (emphasis added).

2 Despite numerous potentially meritorious grounds … See Anders v. California, 386 U.S.
738, 744 (1967). The brief asserted that counsel could perceive no issues worthy of
appellate consideration.

3 “A rapid and dramatic increase”… Brief of Petitioner, Sullivan v. Florida, U.S. Supreme
Court (2009). Charles Geier and Beatriz Luna, “The Maturation of Incentive Processing
and Cognitive Control,” Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 93 (2009): 212; see also
L. P. Spear, “The Adolescent Brain and Age-Related Behavioral Manifestations,”
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 24 (2000): 417 (“[A]dolescence is of its essence, a
period of transitions rather than a moment of attainment.”); also 434 (discussing radical
hormonal changes in adolescence). Laurence Steinberg et al., “Age Differences in
Sensation Seeking and Impulsivity as Indexed by Behavior and Self-Report,” Develpmental
Psychology 44 (2008): 1764; Laurence Steinberg, “Adolescent Development and Juvenile
Justice,” Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 5 (2009): 459, 466.

4 We argued in court that, relative to … See B. Luna, “The Maturation of Cognitive
Control and the Adolescent Brain,” in From Attention to Goal-Directed Behavior, ed. F.
Aboitiz and D. Cosmelli (New York: Springer, 2009), 249, 252–56 (cognitive functions
that underlie decision-making are undeveloped in early teens: processing speed, response
inhibition, and working memory do not reach maturity until about the age of fifteen);
Elizabeth Cauffman and Laurence Steinberg, “(Im)maturity of Judgment in Adolescence:
Why Adolescents May Be Less Culpable than Adults,” Behavioral Science and Law 18
(2000): 741, 756 (significant gains in psychosocial maturity take place after the age of
sixteen); Leon Mann et al., “Adolescent Decision-Making,” Journal of Adolescence 12
(1989): 265, 267–70 (thirteen-year-olds show less knowledge, lower self-esteem as
decision-makers, produce less choice options, and are less inclined to consider

consequences than fifteen-year-olds); Jari-Erik Nurmi, “How Do Adolescents See Their
Future? A Review of the Development of Future Orientation and Planning,” Develpmental
Review 11 (1991): 1, 12 (planning based on anticipatory knowledge, problem definition,
and strategy selection used more frequently by older adolescents than younger ones).

5 “the products of an environment”… Sullivan v. Florida, Brief of Petitioner, filed July 16,
2009.

6 Former juvenile offenders who had later become … Brief of Former Juvenile Offenders
Charles S. Dutton, Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R. Dwayne Betts, Luis Rodriguez, Terry
K. Ray, T. J. Parsell, and Ishmael Beah as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners, Graham
v. Florida/Sullivan v. Florida, U.S. Supreme Court (2009).

Chapter FIFTEEN: BROKEN

1 James “Bo” Cochran had been released … Cochran v. Herring, 43 F.3d 1404 (11th Cir.
1995).

2 But then a few years later, rates of execution …“Facts About the Death Penalty.” Death
Penalty Information Center (May 2, 2013), available at www.​deathpenaltyinfo.​org/​
FactSheet.pdf, accessed August 31, 2013.

3 By 2010, the number of annual executions … There were 46 executions in 2010
compared to 98 in 1999. “Executions by Year Since 1976,” Death Penalty Information
Center, available at www.d​ eathpenaltyinfo.​org/e​ xecutions-y​ ear, accessed April 29, 2014.

4 New Jersey, New York, Illinois … Act of May 2, 2013, ch. 156, 2013 Maryland laws; Act
of April 25, 2012, Pub. Act No. 12-5, 2012 Connecticut Acts (Reg. Sess.); 725 Illinois
Comp. Stat. 5/119-1 (2011); Act of March 18, 2009, ch. 11, 2009 New Mexico laws; Act
of December 17, 2007, ch. 204, 2007 New Jersey laws.

5 Even in Texas, where nearly 40 percent … In 2010, eight people were sentenced to
death in Texas, following a recent trend in the state of eight to fourteen death sentences
per year. In the 1990s, however, Texas routinely sentenced between twenty-four and forty
people to death each year. “Death Sentences in the United States from 1977 by State and
by Year,” Death Penalty Information Center, available at www.d​ eathpenaltyinfo.​org/​
death-​sentences-u​ nited-s​ tates-1​ 977-​2008, accessed August 31, 2013.

6 Alabama’s death-sentencing rate …“Alabama’s Death Sentencing and Execution Rates
Continue to Be Highest in the Country,” Equal Justice Initiative (February 3, 2011),
available at www.e​ ji.​org/​node/5​ 03, accesssed August 31, 2013.

7 The Court ruled unanimously in our favor … Nelson v. Campbell, 541 U.S. 637 (2004).

8 Many states were using drugs … Ty Alper, “Anesthetizing the Public Conscience: Lethal
Injection and Animal Euthanasia,” Fordham Urban Law Journal 35 (2008): 817.

9 When the news spread that the drugs … In early 2011, Hospira, Inc., the sole U.S.
producer of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, halted production of the drug due
to concerns of its use in lethal injections. Nathan Koppel, “Drug Halt Hinders Executions
in the U.S.,” Wall Street Journal (January 22, 2011). Similarly, Danish company Lundbeck
stopped selling execution drug pentobarbital to prisons in states that carry out the death
penalty. Jeanne Whalen and Nathan Koppel, “Lundbeck Seeks to Curb Use of Drug in
Executions,” Wall Street Journal (July 1, 2011).

10 Drug raids of state correctional facilities … Kathy Lohr, “Georgia May Have Broken
Law by Importing Drug,” NPR (March 17, 2011), available at www.n​ pr.​org/2011/03/17/​
134604308/d​ ea-georgia-m​ ay-have-b​ roken-​law-by-importing-l​ ethal-i​ njection-​drug,
accessed August 31, 2013; Nathan Koppel, “Two States Turn Over Execution Drug to
U.S.,” Wall Street Journal (April 2, 2011), available at http://online.​wsj.c​ om/article/​
SB1000​142405274870​380630457623693​1802889492.​ html, accessed August 31, 2013.

11 The U.S. Supreme Court, in Baze v. Rees … Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008).

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE STONECATCHERS’ SONG OF SORROW

1 On May 17, 2010, I was sitting … Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010).
2 Two years later, in June 2012 … Miller v. Alabama, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012).
3 His jury was illegally selected … Shaw v. Dwyer, 555 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (E.D. Mo. 2008).
4 He was given a mandatory … Banyard v. State, 47 So. 3d 676 (Miss. 2010).
5 The Court emphasized the trial court’s … Evans v. State, 109 So. 3d 1044 (Miss. 2013).
6 I believe that there are four institutions … Alex Carp, “Walking with the Wind: Alex

Carp Interviews Bryan Stevenson,” Guernica (March 17, 2014), available at www.​
guernicamag.c​ om/​interviews/​walking-w​ ith-​the-​wind/, accessed April 30, 2014.
7 I had to go back to an appellate court … People v. Nunez, 195 Cal.App. 4th 404 (2011).
8 But to coerce a confession from him … State v. Carter, 181 So. 2d 763 (La. 1965).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BRYAN STEVENSON is the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery,
Alabama, and a professor of law at New York University Law School. He has won relief for
dozens of condemned prisoners, argued five times before the Supreme Court, and won
national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color. He has
received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.

www.eji.org

Bryan Stevenson is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible
appearance, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at 212-572-2013 or
speakers@p​ enguin​randomhouse.c​ om.