EJI is proud to celebrate the 10th anniversary of executive director Bryan Stevenson’s #1 New York Times bestseller Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, a powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice.
In the decade since its publication, Just Mercy has become a major motion picture and was named one of the most influential books of the decade by CNN. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times, Esquire, and Time all named Just Mercy One of the Best Books of the Year.
It is the winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction, the Books for a Better Life Award, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Kirkus Reviews Prize, and an American Library Association Notable Book and it is on The New York Times Reader’s List of Best Books of the 21st Century.
The paperback has been on The New York Times bestseller list for 323 weeks, and millions of people across the country and around the world have read Just Mercy. Many shared the experience, reading and reflecting on the book together as part of community- and school-wide reads and in church, family, and community-based book groups.
Conversations and even classes focusing on the book and the work of EJI have touched hundreds of thousands, and as Stanford researchers recently found, watching the Just Mercy movie can create more compassion and empathy toward formerly incarcerated people and support for criminal justice reform.
The 10th Anniversary Edition features a new Prologue in which Mr. Stevenson recognizes the progress we’ve seen since Just Mercy was first released in 2014—including a decrease in mass incarceration and use of the death penalty—as well as the continuing challenges still before us.
“Since the release of Just Mercy,” he writes, “I’ve had the great privilege of hearing from readers who have shared their hopes and plans for improving the justice quotient in our nation. This feedback has inspired me greatly as I continue my journey, with a hope that I can stand with people who are disfavored, marginalized, imprisoned, excluded, or condemned and that together we can harness and demonstrate the power of justice, mercy, and love.”
“Over this last decade, I have come to understand anew that this path requires constant struggle and commitment—and events like the torturous killing of Kenny Smith are stark reminders that the struggle must continue,” he continues. “But what excites me now is to see how many people have joined us on this journey. There are people from all walks of life who feel motivated to embrace compassion and look for the dignity and beauty we all possess.”
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