Does that surprise you? In what ways does it fit that category?ġ7. This book is often characterized as a memoir. Which other cases were memorable for you? Were you angry? Saddened? Did any moments bring satisfaction?ġ6. In your opinion, is Stevenson against individuals accepting responsibility and/or consequences for their actions? Is there a middle ground?ġ5. Do you agree that the character of a nation is determined by how it treats the broken, the poor, the oppressed? Is this realistic?ġ4. How does he explain this? Do you find this compelling?ġ3.
One of Stevenson’s persistent talking points is that the question is not whether the condemned deserves to die but whether we deserve to kill. Do you believe as Stevenson does, that we are more than the worst thing we have ever done? What effect, if any, should that belief have on the justice system?ġ2. How do cases such as Herbert Richardson’s, the man who set a bomb that killed a young girl, test these convictions?ġ1. What relevance might this opening line from The Great Gatsby have in the debate over this issue: “whenever you feel like criticizing anyone… just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”?ġ0. Critics of social justice initiatives complain that too many excuses are being made for those who have done wrong. Do you agree that “wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes” in our justice system?ĩ. Stevenson laments that “the opposite of poverty is not wealth the opposite of poverty, in too many places, is justice.” How do you feel when you read those words?Ĩ. Are the cases used as examples more about race or about poverty? In your opinion, is that a worthwhile question to ask?ħ. In which aspects was Walter’s case the ideal choice to use as the focus of the book? Would a case with a less flagrant miscarriage of justice have been a better way to test the author’s convictions?Ħ. What was your reaction to the fact that Walter’s case took place in Monroeville? How could the very residents who romanticized Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird stand for (or, worse, contribute to) Walter’s trials?ĥ. Which details of Walter’s case were most difficult for you to accept? Was it difficult to believe that this could really happen?Ĥ. Who would you say is the center of this book: Bryan Stevenson or Walter McMillian?ģ. Is there anything about which you think or feel differently as a result of reading Just Mercy?Ģ.
If reproducing, please credit with the following statement: 2016 Mount Prospect Public Library.
The Library is happy to share these original questions for your use. These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points if you have not read the book.
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