Final Thoughts

    Hello and welcome to my fifth and final blog post discussing the novel Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. The book was a very good read, and for those who have not read it, I highly recommend it. I learned a lot throughout the book and it definitely broadened my knowledge of the criminal justice system. In this post, I will be summarizing the end of the book and going over my final thoughts.

    In chapter 13, Stevenson depicts Walter's life after his release. There was lots of media coverage around the case and release, and Stevenson alongside Walter spoke in many interviews. Although Walter didn't enjoy publicly speaking he had a sense of humor, calmness, and genuineness while telling his story to others. Walter couldn't forget about the men in prison who he left behind, though. He recollected the fear he experienced while on death row and expressed that it left an everlasting effect on him, causing him nightmares. Walter returned to Monroe County and began work with logging again, but was receiving no financial compensation since at the time of Walter's release Alabama was among the states that did not provide aid to innocent people released from prison. Rob McDuff, Stevenson's friend from Mississippi, joined the EJI team to help with the process. EJI succeeded in obtaining Walter a few hundred thousand dollars, allowing him to start up his own logging business again. After experiencing a broken neck from a logging accident, Walter could no longer cut trees but turned to other things as forms of work. 

The team at Equal Justice Initiative

    In chapter 15 Stevenson discusses Walter's "decline" such as memory loss, confusion, and dementia. Stevenson met with Walter's family to help him move into a long-term care facility. Walter experienced bad anxiety from being on death row and even broke down crying to Stevenson. This part of the book made me sad because although Walter was free, he was still suffering from being on death row for so long. I think this goes to show that prisons aren't mentally justifiable and can have lasting effects on their prisoners even after they're released. This also adds to Stevenson's argument that he reasons throughout the book: that the criminal justice system is broken and deficient. At the very end of the book Stevenson goes over other cases EJI has worked on and the success the organization has achieved. The Equal Justice Initiative still exists, and it makes me happy to know that there's an organization out there to continue "ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenging racial and economic injustice, and protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society" ("About EJI").

    The epilogue of the book started with "Walter died on September 11, 2013" (Stevenson, 311). Although I knew it was inevitable, reading this was upsetting. Throughout the book I had become more and more invested in Walter's case and his journey towards freedom, so hearing he had passed away felt personal. However, I do not regret choosing this book to read, and it's shown me a deeper look into the lives of people on death row, who we can so often feel disconnected from. 

    Lastly, thank you for reading my blog posts! 

Works Cited

"About EJI." Eji.org, Equal Justice Initiative, 2021, eji.org/about/. Accessed 10 June 2021.

Our Team. Eji.org, 2021, eji.org/our-team/. Accessed 10 June 2021.

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. 2019 ed., New York, Spiegel & Grau, 2019.