Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

5 reviews

crybabybea's review against another edition

4.5

Insightful and compassionate look into the deeply systemically corrupted legal system in America. Bryan Stevenson details his career as a civil defense lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a group that focuses on helping the most underserved prisoners. The main threadline of the book follows the story of Walter McMillian, a man who was sentenced to death row after being wrongfully convicted for a murder, but Stevenson offers multiple perspectives from other such cases interspersed throughout.

I went into this being mildly informed on the prison industrial complex, but Stevenson helped open my eyes to how truly harrowing the experiences of the most underserved prisoners can be. He explores not only the systemic biases that cause unfair and wrongful convictions, but also the devastating after-effects of mass incarceration and lazy, biased legal proceedings. There is a deep-rooted corruption within our legal system that stems from slavery, fed by racism, ableism, classism, and sexism, and Bryan Stevenson is not afraid to call the corruption out for what it is. I also liked how he touched upon sensationalization of crimes in the media, which I think has become even more of an issue with true crime becoming one of the most popular forms of media in recent years.

The anecdotes in this book are absolutely sobering and told with a degree of compassion that is rarely given to prisoners, let alone the "worst of the worst". I believe this compassion and empathy make this book an accessible entry into abolition and understanding the prison industrial complex, even for those who may be on the other side of the political spectrum. The phrase "Just Mercy" is a plea from the author to practice empathy, compassion, and a call to action to focus on helping the people who need it the most, rather than calling for their deaths.

Highly recommend.
Also ACAB.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Stalking, Drug abuse, Confinement, Violence, Police brutality, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Addiction, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Gun violence

ballew's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Simply an amazing exploration of the flaws of the American criminal justice system

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Rape, Confinement, and Gun violence

Minor: Terminal illness

suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

this is a very interesting read! this was gifted to me by a mentor that has been pushing the pre law agenda on me for a while now. i honestly had no clue what to expect reading this book and i was surprised. left me wondering more about the treatment of women in the criminal justice system (both those on the inside and outside) and more about the connection between the soul/psychology and the impact the criminal justice system (but really america) has on the individual. i don't know if i have ever read a book that has left me as determined to research something as this one. the criminal legal system has always and will always be something that deeply interests me and this book brought light to so many f*cked up things about it that i had never known (but am not surprised by). the only critique i have is that this book speeds through different cases at some point-- cases that are really challenging and hard to read. there are even points where an electrocution takes place and it is described in detail... it's hard to read. i think what's hardest about these scenes is the writing style-- it's almost too clinical, dissociated, and 'lawyer-like' that it was unsettling to read. and unsettling here not in an artistic and metaphoric way but in a 'are you a human or a robot' way (too harsh?). if you are someone who is interested in criminal law or is interested in prisons in america then i would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Gun violence, and Grief

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

hot_water's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

morganperks's review

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt