Media censorship
1) Perjure: This is the act of willfully telling an untruth under oath.
Exculpatory: Tending to clear somebody from the alleged guilt or fault.
2) Media censorship
“On the other hand, I didn’t think media attention would help win the case now pending in the Court of Criminal Appeals. In fact, the chief judge on the court, John Patterson, had famously sued The New York Times over their coverage of the Civil Rights Movement when he was Alabama’s governor. It was a common tactic used by Southern politicians during civil rights protests: Sue national media outlets for defamation if they provide sympathetic coverage of activists or if they characterize Southern politicians and law enforcement officers unfavorably.” (Stevenson, 208)
The theme of media censorship is expressed in this paragraph because the media had been significantly suppressed for covering civil rights cases and protests. The tactic used by the politicians and other authorities to suppress the media was through law suits, which made the media end up incurring huge losses as payment for damages. This, therefore, made the media shy away from covering such processes.
3) What should be the criteria for implementing positive media censorship without undermining the role of the press?
What role does the media play in our justice system?
(pages 148-202 below)
1) Plight: This is an unfriendly state or a condition that is characteristically sad, unsafe or challenging.
Deinstitutionalization: This is a motion that campaigns the relocation of mentally sick persons from private or public institutes, for instance, psychogenic hospitals, and it taken back to their relatives or homes.
2) Injustice
“Not long after she arrived, at Muncy, a male officer pulled her into a secluded area and raped her. The crime was discovered when Trina became pregnant. As is ofter the case, the correctional officer was fired but not criminally prosecuted.” (Stevenson, 150)
The theme of injustice is portrayed in this paragraph because Trina did not get the justice she deserved. The man who raped her was acquitted because he was an officer and because Trina was a prisoner, which shows a huge form of injustice to the powerless. Trina was powerless in the case.
3) Should mentally ill people be convicted, and if yes; what type of conviction should they get?
What measures do you think are appropriate that should be taken to officers that misuse power?
(pages 41-91 below)
- Parishioner:
One who belongs to a particular church.
Recantation:
A statement that one no longer holds a particular opinion or belief.
- Through the theme of advocacy, the book emphasizes the importance of continuous resistance to unfair institutions. Stevenson worked for both legal aid firms to make substantial changes in America’s landscape on behalf of those incarcerated unfairly or inhumanely. For example, Stevenson representation of people who were hardly sentenced juvenile or wrongly convicted persuades the court to overturn an unjust conviction. Stevenson defines how advocacy firms can use legal avenues like the Supreme Court, to search for wider reforms to the criminal justice system.
Advocacy through media coverage functions in shaping popular opinion around criminal justice problems and individual cases, which impacts law enforcement actions, juries, and judges. For instance, Stevenson shows how the local news across Monroeville declared Walter murdered Ronda Morrison.
- What examples of current people in a position like George manipulate their power to gain a judicial advantage?
What could Walter have done differently in the case?
(below is from the week before above, pages 1-46)
1) Mercy: Stevenson shows the meaning of the word mercy in his pursuit of justice for different clients. Mercy means forgiveness or compassion shown towards an individual within one’s power to harm or punish.
Advocacy: Advocacy means the recommendation of or public support for a particular policy or cause.
2) In the first chapter, Stevenson begins with a call from Key, who says, “This is Judge Key, and you don’t want to have anything to do with this McMillian case. No one really understands how depraved this situation truly is, including me, but I know it’s ugly. These men might even be Dixie Mafia” (Stevenson 20).
This statement indicates his motive to control and manipulate the trial process by using fear and threats to persuade Lawyer Bryan Stevenson withdraw from the cases involving Walter McMillian who was on the death row. It portrays systemic power, where individual leverages their legal ability to control or manipulate the institutions sanctioned by the state. Despite the growing Alabama crisis with about a hundred individuals on death row, Robert Key does everything through his personal and official powers to control and manipulate this trial.
3) What is the relevance of the book Just Mercy to today’s society?
What technique does Stevenson use to attract readers?
(Pages 91-145, chp 5-7)
- Arbitrariness:The standard of being established on a random option or specific impulse rather than any reason or system.
Lynching: A non-judicial assassination by a crowd in public to discipline a supposed transgressor or frighten them.
2) Oppression
“Well, you’ve indicated someone for perjury for contradicting the state’s case. Do you intend to prosecute everyone who challenges the evidence in this case” (Stevenson, 110)?
On this question by Stevenson to Mr. Chapman, Darnell Houston had been arrested after talking about Walter’s case to Stevenson. Darnell had told Stevenson that one of the witnesses in Walter’s case was lying, which led to his arrest. The court did not want anyone testifying against them, for Walter’s fair judgement. Houston is oppressed by the authority for charged with lying, without any evidence against him because he is willing to help a man he knows is innocent, who is on death role.
3) Choose a paragraph that clearly outlines racism.
What does the book tell us about not giving up on something we know is right?
