Founder of The Equal Justice Initiative in 1989, lawyer Bryan Stevenson specializes in defending the poor, the socially disadvantaged, and minors; he has presented landmark cases before the Supreme Court five times, and worked successfully to abolish mandatory life sentences for children. He recounts his career in Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (Spiegel & Grau $28), and this story is as much that of the people he defends and befriends (especially his early experience working with Walter McMillian, wrongly convicted of murder and awaiting his end on death row when Stevenson intervened), as it is the account of his own impoverished childhood, his family tragedies (his great-grandparents were slaves; his grandfather was killed in a Philadelphia housing project), his academic success, and rise to national prominence. This book is urgent, passionate, and civilized; a guided tour of the darkest corners of our justice system, it also points the way to a better future.
