Walter Louis Stevenson Justice

The United States of America has been a long-standing symbol of liberty; the pledge of allegiance even states “with liberty, and justice for all.” However, digging not-so-deep into America’s government and justice system reveals anything but liberty or justice. Luckily, there are many people out there willing to push to reform the system and help those who have been treated unfairly. Bryan Stevenson is one of those people, and his anecdote about Walter McMillian intends to show the deep rooted problems in the justice system, as well as the fairly easy solutions to make strides towards repairing it and the people who have been wronged by it. He does this by using a somber tone about the life of McMillian, as well as using a hopeful one when

In the first paragraph, Stevenson says that “...[Walter] had been threatened and terrorized, wrongly accused and condemned, but he never gave up….Walter had overcome what fear, ignorance, and bigotry had done to him.” In the second paragraph: “Walter’s case taught me that fear and anger are a threat to justice…” In the third paragraph: “The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?” And in the last paragraph: “Walter had taught me that mercy is just when it is rooted in hopefulness and freely given. Mercy is empowering, liberating, and transformative when it is directed at the undeserving. The people who haven’t earned it, who haven’t even sought it, are the most meaningful recipients of our compassion.” Stevenson gives the readers multiple reasons why the system is so corrupt in such plain terms so that they can go out and do something about it. Don’t give up. Overcome the fear, ignorance, and bigotry. Don’t be fearful or angry all the time. Ask the question: Do we deserve to kill? And most importantly, have mercy and forgiveness. Since Walter symbolizes the reforming of the justice system, the ways he got out are the ways to reform the system, and Stevenson puts that in the reader's’