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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