To understand the criminal justice system in america, its bias against africanamerican men and the death penalty, it is important to. Jordan, jamie foxx, rob morgan, tim blake nelson, rafe spall, karan kendrick and brie larson. The character of karen kelly in just mercy from litcharts. Jordan and the case of walter mcmillian academy award winner jamie foxx, who was convicted and sentenced to death for a crime he. Just mercy, director destin daniel crettons adaptation of bryan stevensons 2014 memoir, is about the exoneration of walter mcmillian, a black man. Just mercy chapter 9 summary university 112 rampages. Bryan stevensons just mercy tells the story of a lawyer fighting for those wrongfully accused and put on death row. Just mercy, starring jamie foxx as walter and also sometimes called johnnie d by his friends and family, is based off the memoir written by stevenson, played by michael b.
Walter mcmillian national registry of exonerations. Professor howard winant introduction to sociology 41616 who exactly is justice for we all read a large amount literature in our lifetime, and among those stand the few that make you truly reflect on your own humanity. Like in to kill a mockingbird, bryan stevenson delves deep into the broken u. Born to a poor black family outside of monroeville, alabama, walter became a successful small businessman as an adult. Mcmillians story is one of the most wellknown cases of wrongful conviction, one that is being retold in the upcoming drama, just mercy, starring jamie foxx and michael b. We would often talk about situations and people connected to the case that, for all the damage they had caused, had still made us laugh at their. Ralph myers, the states main eyewitness, recanted his testimony to stevenson and oconnor. Heroic measures had to be taken by attorney, bryan stevenson, to. After spending 6 years on alabamas death row for a crime he did not commit, he was eventually exonerated in 1993.
This was important to read because of card kaspers long record as an ecumenical and openminded high official of the church, and a longtime archbishop in germany who has been trying for decades to apply the churchs convictions about marriage to todays world. Accused of a crime he didnt commit, walter is arrested and sent to death row pretrial. Walter s truck was converted to a lowrider months after the murder despite hooks testifying that he saw walter s lowrider parked at the scene of the crime. Walter s sense of humor hadnt failed him despite his six years on death row. Bryan described his crusades and the mcmillian case in his book, just mercy, which was published in october 2014 and was an immediate and welldeserved bestseller. Criminal justice questions in just mercy, a book by bryan. Three months after the segment aired, alabama court of appeals granted. Stevenson went on 60 minutes, and they aired a segment on walter mcmillians case in 1992. To understand the criminal justice system in america, its bias against africanamerican men and the death penalty, it is important to understand the stories of both mcmillan and stevenson.
Just mercy takes us inside americas broken criminal justice system and compels us to confront inequality and injustice based on the bestselling book, the just mercy movie presents the unforgettable story of bryan stevenson michael b. I ought to take you off and hang you like we done that n in mobile, referring to the lynching of michael donald. The just mercy true story reveals that the real bryan stevenson took the case in 1988, the year of mcmillian s murder conviction. Just mercy is a 2019 american legal drama film directed by destin daniel cretton, and starring michael b. While reading the book just mercy i came across the case for two juveniles joe sullivan and charlie. Stevenson implies that this anger, at least in part, leads to walter s false arrest.
Walter mcmillians case, lourida ruffins case, charlies case, and joe sullivans case. Now, thousands of undergraduate students, in addition to law students, will have a great opportunity to learn more about how the american justice system works, or as the case may be, often does not work. Staying optimistic in a world where judges named robert e. The film is based on the memoir of the same name, written by. It chronicles the prosecution, wrongful conviction and imprisonment on death row of walter mcmillian for a murder he did not commit.
The jury recommended a life sentence, but on september 19, 1988, the judge overrode the jurys recommendation and imposed the death penalty. Random house teachers and librarians just mercy teach. A story of justice and redemption by bryan stevenson. Completely dumbfounded with the arrest, walter s perspective gives the reader an inside look to the frighten world of death row. Jordan and jamie foxx recall filming just mercy s emotional courtroom scene duration. The public scandal of their interracial affair defames walter and infuriates some white residents of monroeville. Today, more than 160 people who were on death row have been proved innocent and released.
This week, hell release his book, a suretobe classic entitled just mercy. In discussing walter s case, stevenson explains how the racial bias and presumption of guilt that led to walter s conviction is directly linked to a history of segregation and slavery in. What happened to the real walter mcmillian from just mercy. Jordan and jamie foxx star in just mercy, walter mcmillian, a wrongfully convicted man whose story serves as a reminder of the inequities in.
It is about time we tell true america stories of wrongful imprisonment and death penalties. On friday, the movie adaptation of the book, just mercy, was released nationwide. He had a large, tightknit family and several children with his wife minnie, but, following an affair with a white woman, walter was falsely accused and. I got a chance to watch the film just mercy, which tells the true story of walter mcmillian, who with the help of young defense attorney bryan stevenson appeals his murder conviction. The new york times calls just mercy as compelling as to kill a mockingbird, and in some ways more so. Walter s legal case serves as the central storyline of the book. The essence of the gospel and the key to christian.
It tells the true story of walter mcmillian, who, with the help of young defense attorney bryan stevenson, appeals his murder conviction. Jordan plays the idealistic defense attorney, and jamie foxx plays johnny d. Before you check out jamie foxx in the new film just mercy, learn the true story of walter mcmillian, an alabama man wrongfully convicted for a brutal murder who spent six years on death row. The narrative turns to the case of walter mcmillian, a black man who was wrongfully convicted of killing a white woman and subsequently sentenced to death row. Mcmillian october 27, 1941 september 11, 20 was an africanamerican pulpwood worker from monroeville, alabama, who was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Just mercy is a realistic portrayal of the problems in. In the book, just mercy by bryan stevenson, the readers become the jury and stevenson is the lawyer who is presenting the injustice within the case of walter mcmillian. Just mercy, the new film about crusading attorney bryan stevenson played by michael b. In one of his most famous cases, stevenson helped exonerate a man on death row. Jordan, focuses on walter mcmillian jamie foxx, a wrongfully convicted deathrow inmate from. Mcmillian, wearing a white jumpsuit, sits across the table from his lawyer bryan stevenson, with the sterile bars of an alabama prison in the background. Criminal justice questions in just mercy, a book by bryan stevenson criminal justice questions in just mercy, a book by bryan stevenson. The film just mercy, based on bryan stevensons book of the same name, focuses on his tireless pursuit of the truth in mcmillians case, and that begins with the testimony of ralph myers. Walter mcmillian was among the first exonerees from death row in the modern era.
New york times, 17 october 2014 one lawyer s fight for young blacks and zjust mercy. Mcmillian presented six alibi witnesses who testified that they had been with him at a family fish fry the entire day. Iss just mercy taylor lewis just mercy just mercy was a. Jordan as bryan stevenson and jamie foxx as mcmillian. At the church meeting, i spoke mostly about walter s case, but i also reminded people that when the. A couple of years ago, in a welltraveled ted talk, stevenson reflected on his life as a lawyer, and his central thesis. Perhaps the most significant piece of new evidence. While mcmillian passed away in 20, his story continues to captivate and. As just mercy depicts, bryan stevenson worked tirelessly to make walter mcmillian the first person in alabama history to be freed from death row, from a retrial that stevenson worked hard to. Now that just mercy has begun to hit select theaters, moviegoers may be wondering where walter mcmillian is now.
Walter mcmillian was convicted of killing 18yearold ronda morrison, who was found under a clothing rack at a. The film just mercy chronicles the legal drama, based stevensons book of the same name. Just mercy essay professor howard winant introduction to. In the third chapter of just mercy, bryan stevenson details the plight of walter mcmillian in capital punishment system in alabama. During my career, i have met many famous and influential men and women, but none has impressed me as much as bryan stevenson. In an early scene in the film just mercy, death row inmate walter johnny d. Your honor it was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man for murder and send him to death row for something he didnt do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence. Just mercy, starring jamie foxx as walter and also sometimes called johnnie d by his friends and family, is based off the memoir written by stevenson, played.
This film is based on the book by bryan stevenson, who is played by michael b. The tonight show starring jimmy fallon 1,404,761 views. Photo from eji on december 1st walter was mainly targeted for this crime because he was a black man dating a white woman. Jordan depicts stevenson in the movie, while jamie foxx plays mcmillian. Walter often sought better work to support his family.
Finally he on the inside of the vatican, as a trusted confidant of pope francis. Mcmillan whose story is depicted in the movie just mercy premiering christmas day 2019 never got the happy ending he deserved after his release from prison in 1993. Just mercy s central story about walter mcmillian is equal parts heartbreaking and absurd. Mcmillian, who is black, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman who worked as a clerk in a dry clearing store in monroeville, alabama. Jordan and the case of walter mcmillian academy award winner jamie foxx, who was convicted and sentenced to death for a. The way stevenson wrote the book just mercy is in the style of a courtroom trial where there is a story told, then an argument made. A 60 minutes segment and other national press coverage about his case led to other exonerations. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. Spoilers for just mercy below walter mcmillan spent six years on death row for a crime he didnt commit, but even after the alabama resident was exonerated, he remained tormented by his years behind bars. He is also the best public speaker that i have ever heard. When minnie became pregnant in 1962, they were married. Just mercy contained a numerous amount of great cases, and four of the cases stuck out to me.