Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice

Stevenson receives a call from a woman begging him to help her grandson, who has been arrested for murder. The grandson, Charlie, is a 14-year-old boy who weighs less than 100 pounds, yet has confessed to killing his mother’s violently abusive boyfriend, George. During an altercation, George hit Charlie’s mother so hard that Charlie believed her to be dead. In terror, Charlie found George’s hidden handgun and shot him before calling 911.

George, unfortunately, was also a police officer, and Stevenson fears the courts will charge Charlie as an adult despite his age and the extenuating circumstances. Worse still, Alabama allows for child offenders to be sentenced to the death penalty. In the 1980s, the state has the highest rate of juveniles sentenced to death in the country, and the world.

When Stevenson speaks with Charlie, the boy is silent at first. He finally begins to cry and tells Stevenson that several men in the jail have raped him. Armed with this information, Stevenson has Charlie moved to a juvenile facility. Eventually, he has the case moved to juvenile court, where Charlie’s sentence allows him to be released from prison by age 18. Later, Stevenson discusses the case during a talk given at a church, where an older white couple are so moved by the story that they write letters to Charlie while he is in prison. The couple have lost their only grandson to death by suicide. They use the money saved for their grandson to fund Charlie’s college education when he is released.

Stevenson files an extensive appeal in Walter’s case, citing “lack of evidence, unreliable testimonies, prosecutorial misconduct, racially discriminatory jury selection, an improper change of venue” (106). However, the court rejects every argument and the appeal is denied. Stevenson feels he should have guessed the outcome, as the chief judge on the court has ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

Following the appeals denial, Stevenson hires more lawyers, including Michael O’Connor, a son of working-class Irish immigrants. Michael, who is passionate about social activism, jumps into Walter’s case with enthusiasm, and together they continue their investigation. Soon they discover more police corruption: Bill Hooks was not only released from prison but also paid $5,000 by Sheriff Tate in exchange for his testimony against Walter.

Ralph Myers calls them from prison. His therapy group has instructed him to be honest and fix the harm he did. He therefore wants to testify in court that every claim he made about Walter was false. He adds that he told Sheriff Tate and the police before the trial that it was all a lie and they threatened him with the death penalty if he didn’t testify against Walter.

Stevenson and Michael corroborate Ralph’s claims. They also investigate the first murder Ralph was implicated in, that of Vickie Pittman, which did not receive as much attention as Ronda Morrison’s. Vickie’s aunts are grateful that they show any interest at all. Despite a recent movement in support of victims’ rights, the aunts learn firsthand that the justice system still favors some people and ignores others, particularly “poor and minority victims of crime” (118). Stevenson argues that “the expansion of victims’ rights ultimately made formal what had always been true: some victims are more protected and valued than others” (119).

Stevenson files a “Rule 32” petition, which would give them an opportunity to present new evidence in a trial. Stevenson and Michael formally request documents and files from the DA and the sheriff’s office. DA Chapman and Sheriff Tate react to this development with hostility, derision, and accusations that Stevenson must be making a lot of money for his efforts. As Stevenson and Michael continue to ask difficult questions and challenge the established story, the EJI receives bomb threats.

Stevenson transitions to discussing cases involving child offenders, some as young as 13 years old, who are tried in adult courts and sentenced to life without parole, sometimes for crimes that did not result in death. Adults charged with similar crimes are rarely sentenced to life imprisonment; however, changes in the justice system since the 1980s have made it easy to punish children with extreme sentences. In earlier decades, a 13- or 14-year-old charged with a crime would be tried in the juvenile system and likely held in custody until 18 or 21 years old. By the 1990s “the politics of fear and anger sweeping the country and fueling mass incarceration was turning its attention to children” (134), instigated in part by criminologists incorrectly predicting a generation of lawless, violent children they dubbed “superpredators.” Thousands of children who might otherwise have been placed in the juvenile system were instead put in adult prisons.

Stevenson offers three cases as examples. First is that of Trina Garnett, who, after years of parental neglect and sexual abuse, runs away from home. While living on the streets, 14-year-old Trina and a friend sneak into a house to make friends with two boys who live there. They accidentally start a fire and the two boys die from asphyxiation. Trina is tried and convicted as an adult and sentenced to life without parole. In prison, Trina is raped by a guard and gives birth to a son who is taken from her and placed in foster care. As of 2014, she has been in prison for 38 years.

The second example is the case of 13-year-old Ian Manuel. Ian and two older boys try to rob a couple. When the woman resists, Ian shoots her with the handgun given to him by the others. The bullet goes through her cheek, causing severe damage but not death. The boys are arrested and charged with attempted homicide, and Ian’s lawyer recommends he confess in exchange for a lighter sentence. The judge sentences him to life without parole anyway. Children put in adult prisons are five times more likely to be sexual assaulted than children in the juvenile system, so Ian is placed in solitary confinement for his own safety. However, solitary confinement is mentally traumatizing, and Ian self-harms and attempts to die by suicide on several occasions. Ian spends 18 years in continuous solitary confinement.

Lastly, Antonio Nuñez is 14 years old when he participates in a fake kidnapping scheme with two adult men. During the plot, Antonio shoots at people chasing them, who turn out to be undercover cops. Though no one is injured and the kidnapping itself is fake, Antonio is charged with kidnapping and the attempted murder of police officers. Because of a few minor offenses on Antonio’s record, stemming from the trauma of his brother’s death in a drive-by shooting the year before, the judge labels Antonio a danger and sentences him to life in prison for a crime in which no one was even injured.