SA Previews: Just Mercy

• SA Events

October 23, 2020

1526 people have been executed in the U.S. since 1973 and 171 of those people have been exonerated (EJI). According to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), founded by Bryan Stevenson, “At least 170 Alabama death sentences have been reversed by state or federal courts and resulted in an exoneration, lesser conviction, or reduced sentence”. Stevenson is fighting to add more numbers to the exonerated statistic.

Just Mercy is a deeply-moving, thought-provoking film about Bryan Stevenson’s fight for justice and redemption in the criminal justice system. Stevenson had a passion for using his Harvard Law degree to help men and women in Birmingham, Alabama who were wrongly convicted and put on death row. His first client was Walter McMillian who was put on death row for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite his proven innocence. This film goes through Stevenson and McMillian’s emotional journey of fighting for freedom and justice despite the racial tension.

This movie is helping fuel the conversation around capital punishment in America and raise an eyebrow to the flaws in our criminal justice system. You can watch this film with us in the LaHaye Event Space on November 6. There will be two showings, one at 8 p.m. and the other at 10:45 p.m. I can guarantee you will leave feeling inspired and ready to change the world!

Sources:

https://eji.org/issues/alabama-death-penalty/

https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/

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