Brianna’s Reviews > Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption > Status Update

"Many states were using drugs that had been banned for animal euthanasia because they caused a painful and torturous death."

"Soon, Walter needed to be moved into the sort of facility that provided care for the elderly and infirm. Most places wouldn't take him because he had been convicted of a felony. Even when we explained that he was wrongfully convicted and later proved innocent, we couldn't get anyone to admit him."

"He once told me that a guard had punched him in the chest just because he had asked a question about meal times. He started crying as he told me this because he just couldn't understand why the officer had done that."

"Between 1990 and 2005, a new prison opened in the United States every ten days."

"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. Southern state court judges and all-white juries were all too willing to rule in favor of "defamed" local officials..."

""Dr. Ed Seger" had made up his credentials. He had never graduated from college but had fooled hospital officials into believeing he was a trained physician with expertise in psychiatry. He had masqueraded at the hospital for eight years conducting competency evaluations on people accused of crimes before his fraud was uncovered."

"There was a shamefulness about the experience of Herbert's execution that I couldn't shake. Everyone I saw at the prison seemed surrounded by a cloud of regret and remorse. The prison officials had pumped themselves up to carry out the execution with determination and resolve, but even they revealed extreme discomfort and some measure of shame."

"I couldn't help but ask myself, Where were these people when he really needed them? Where were all of these helpful people when Herbert was three and his mother died? Where were they when he was seven and trying to recover from physical abuse? Where were they when he was a young teen struggling with drugs and alcohol? Where were they when he returned from Vietnam traumatized and disabled?"

"When I thought about what I would have done when I was sixteen years old or nineteen or even twenty-four, I was scared to realize that I might have run. The more I thought about it, the more concerned I became about all the young black boys and men in that neighborhood. Did they know not run? Did they know to stay calm and say, "It's okay"?"