25 Discussion Questions for Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (With Analysis) | Chapterly Blog
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy is a searing indictment of the American criminal justice system and a deeply personal account of what it means to fight for people the system has abandoned. Just Mercy discussion questions push readers to confront uncomfortable truths about race, poverty, punishment, and the distance between the ideals of justice and its reality. Whether you are leading a book club, teaching a course on criminal justice, or preparing for a community discussion, these questions are designed to generate honest conversation. The book centers on Stevenson's work as a young lawyer founding the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, and particularly on the case of Walter McMillian, a Black man wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. But McMillian's story is woven together with the stories of many others — children sentenced to life imprisonment, people with intellectual disabilities on death row, and communities devastated by mass incarceration. These 25 questions are organized by theme. Just Mercy Discussion Questions: Justice and Injustice Stevenson's central argument is that the American legal system does not malfunction when it convicts the innocent or sentences children to die in prison — it functions exactly as designed, protecting the powerful and punishing the...