Just Mercy (49 page)
Authors: Bryan Stevenson
3
By 2010, the number of annual executions …
There were 46 executions in 2010 compared to 98 in 1999. “Executions by Year Since 1976,” Death Penalty Information Center, available at
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-year
, accessed April 29, 2014.
4
New Jersey, New York, Illinois …
Act of May 2, 2013, ch. 156, 2013 Maryland laws; Act of April 25, 2012, Pub. Act No. 12-5, 2012 Connecticut Acts (Reg. Sess.); 725 Illinois Comp. Stat. 5/119-1 (2011); Act of March 18, 2009, ch. 11, 2009 New Mexico laws; Act of December 17, 2007, ch. 204, 2007 New Jersey laws.
5
Even in Texas, where nearly 40 percent …
In 2010, eight people were sentenced to death in Texas, following a recent trend in the state of eight to fourteen death sentences per year. In the 1990s, however, Texas routinely sentenced between twenty-four and forty people to death each year. “Death Sentences in the United States from 1977 by State and by Year,” Death Penalty Information Center, available at
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-sentences-united-states-1977-2008
, accessed August 31, 2013.
6
Alabama’s death-sentencing rate …
“Alabama’s Death Sentencing and Execution Rates Continue to Be Highest in the Country,” Equal Justice Initiative (February 3, 2011), available at
www.eji.org/node/503
, accesssed August 31, 2013.
7
The Court ruled unanimously in our favor …
Nelson v. Campbell
, 541 U.S. 637 (2004).
8
Many states were using drugs …
Ty Alper, “Anesthetizing the Public Conscience: Lethal Injection and Animal Euthanasia,”
Fordham Urban Law Journal
35 (2008): 817.
9
When the news spread that the drugs …
In early 2011, Hospira, Inc., the sole U.S. producer of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, halted production of the drug due to concerns of its use in lethal injections. Nathan Koppel, “Drug Halt Hinders Executions in the U.S.,”
Wall Street Journal
(January 22, 2011). Similarly, Danish company Lundbeck stopped selling execution drug pentobarbital to prisons in states that carry out the death penalty. Jeanne Whalen and Nathan Koppel, “Lundbeck Seeks to Curb Use of Drug in Executions,”
Wall Street Journal
(July 1, 2011).
10
Drug raids of state correctional facilities …
Kathy Lohr, “Georgia May Have Broken Law by Importing Drug,” NPR (March 17, 2011), available at
www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134604308/dea-georgia-may-have-broken-law-by-importing-lethal-injection-drug
, accessed August 31, 2013; Nathan Koppel,
“Two States Turn Over Execution Drug to U.S.,”
Wall Street Journal
(April 2, 2011), available at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576236931802889492.html
, accessed August 31, 2013.
11
The U.S. Supreme Court, in
Baze v. Rees
…
Baze v. Rees
, 553 U.S. 35 (2008).
1
On May 17, 2010, I was sitting …
Graham v. Florida
, 560 U.S. 48 (2010).
2
Two years later, in June 2012 …
Miller v. Alabama
, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012).
3
His jury was illegally selected …
Shaw v. Dwyer
, 555 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (E.D. Mo. 2008).
4
He was given a mandatory …
Banyard v. State
, 47 So. 3d 676 (Miss. 2010).
5
The Court emphasized the trial court’s …
Evans v. State
, 109 So. 3d 1044 (Miss. 2013).
6
I believe that there are four institutions …
Alex Carp, “Walking with the Wind: Alex Carp Interviews Bryan Stevenson,”
Guernica
(March 17, 2014), available at
www.guernicamag.com/interviews/walking-with-the-wind/
, accessed April 30, 2014.
7
I had to go back to an appellate court …
People v. Nunez
, 195 Cal.App. 4th 404 (2011).
8
But to coerce a confession from him …
State v. Carter
, 181 So. 2d 763 (La. 1965).
B
RYAN
S
TEVENSON
is the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and a professor of law at New York University Law School. He has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, argued five times before the Supreme Court, and won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color. He has received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.
Bryan Stevenson is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau at 212-572-2013 or
speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com
.
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