Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice
“The opposite of poverty is not wealth. … In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.”
This speach is monumental for me because it calls us to do more than simply write a check (though helpful!) to solve the issues of poverty in America. But furthermore it calls us to actively seek justice (to do something) and not just applaud those who do. I remember coming down to Mercy, and several other non-profits, on alternative spring break and thinking, "Wow, this is awesome." Fifteen months later, I have started my second service year, and I'm realizing that this is my opportunity seek justice. The other day I was driving along and saw one of our brothers from Mercy being shuffled along by the police because he was drunk and bothering others. Interestingly enough, I was in that same area not two nights before for dinner, and it seemed that everyone was drunk and no one was being arrested or forced out. Let me be clear, I am in no way advocating public intoxication, but I find it interesting to see who gets harassed, arrested, threatened--and who doesn't.
Below is a talk by by Bryan Stevenson that stirred me, both in the work I do and at a personal level. Here's a little of his personal bio: Bryan Stevenson is a public-interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. He's the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based group that has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent prisoners on death row, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults.
This reminds me of when I first started going to court with our brothers/sisters from Mercy. I saw people get offered plea bargains--in most instances, the charges would be a mile high and the ADA would offer to drop a portion of the changes in exchange for a guilty plea. For many, it seems so simple in the moment, one can either go to jail for X number of months/years or get probation for X number of years and pay a few fines; who wouldn't choose the latter that seems like freedom? I am coming to understand that there is a correlation between race and social class in the in the plea and sentencing aspects of our criminal justice system. Objectively, I noticed that the people pleading guilty overwhelmingly tended to be poor and black/ brown. this group people being prosecuted tended not to be able to afford an attorney, so they were assigned a public defender. Public defenders do great work in this country represent those who can’t afford or don't know how to represent or even carry themselves.
That being said, I have also noticed some issues with the public defender’s office. A few weeks ago I went to court multiple times for two men in our community, both of them are homeless. They had been in an altercation and one of the guys was stabbed in the back with a pair of scissors. They were both charged with assault and were represented by different public defenders. The first time they went to court, their case was reset because they were not brought to the courthouse. At their second court date, the case was reset only one of the men was sent to the courthouse. The case was reset a third time because the public defender’s office finally realized that they were representing both the guy accused of the stabbing and the victim, an obvious conflict of interest. The defendant’s public defender, received the case only an hour before she entered the court room. One hour, can you imagine facing charges with a 10 year sentence and the person representing you had no longer than an hour for prep? Not only that, but most people who were represented with a public defender had little to no time to talk with their attorney, forced to sit at a distance from them behind a line marked on the floor if they were even brought into the room. Those who could afford to pay for a lawyer sat with their attorney and had everything explained to them as the case proceeded. I witnessed a private attorney comfort his client, my homeless friends did not receive similar assurances.
Along with a guilty plea to a felonious charge comes a life sentence of discrimination in employment, housing, education, public benefits, jury service and voting. This year offers me an opportunity to see the discrepancies in our justice system, to stand beside the marginalized and open my eyes to the reality of jails and prisons in America.
