Bryan Stevenson is a a civil rights attorney who represents prisoners on death row. Described as “America’s Nelson Mandela,” his Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit law firm based in Alabama, is dedicated to challenging racial injustice and ending mass incarceration. Stevenson is also the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Q&A
Michael Cohen’s prepared opening statement before the House Oversight Committee
Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee
An article from the Washington Post about Representative Matt Gaetz’s tweet and the Florida Bar’s investigation
Rule 35 - Correcting or reducing a sentence
Stevenson & EJI
Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy
The movie adaptation of Just Mercy(2020)
The Equal Justice Initiative
EJI’s The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration
EJI’s The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (and efforts to create memorials in Berlin and South Africa)
Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
SCOTUS decisions concerning the death penalty: Furman v. Georgia (1972), Gregg v. Georgia(1976), McCleskey v. Kemp(1987)
An article in the Washington Post on the McCleskey opinion and dissent (“fear of too much justice”)
A 1994 paper by David Baldus and co. addressing to the “inevitability doctrine”
SCOTUS decisions concerning life sentences without parole for juveniles: Graham v. Florida(2010), Miller v. Alabama (2010), Sullivan v. Florida(2010), Jackson v. Hobbes(2012)
The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for juveniles: Roper v. Simmons, 2005 (and an article from the NYT analyzing the court opinion)
The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for mentally ill folks: Atkins v. Virginia, 2002
The SCOTUS decision that justified Japanese internment: Korematsu v. United States ,1944
An article in the Washington Post on court nominees refusing to answer questions about Brown v. Board of Education
The Scottsboro Boys case and the ultimate pardon of the wrongfully accused
Congress
An article from the Asia Society on the history of Asian exclusion acts
History of The Klu Klux Klan Act
Constitutional Amendments
Eighth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment
Alabama
An article in the New Yorker about Alabama judges’ power to “override” jury rulings and impose the death penalty
Articles in Slate about Alabama’s Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee Day
Articles in the Washington Post about Goodloe Sutton’s editorial calling for the return of the KKK and his subsequent resignation and replacement. Plus, Senator Jones and Representative Sewell’s reactions to Sutton
Judicial elections
An article by Adam Liptak in the NYT on judicial elections, and analysis from The Brennan Center on how judicial elections impact sentencing
A 2012 article from the Yale Law Journal, “The Origins of the Elected Prosecutor”
Recently elected District Attorneys in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, Baltimore
Relevant news
An article from the NYT about Virginia officials wearing blackface in the past
A timeline from the NYT on Jussie Smollett, plus an update on his role on the TV series, “Empire.”
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