Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Just Mercy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Resistance and Advocacy
Systemic Power, Oppression, and Dehumanization
Empathy, Mercy, and Humanization
Media and Public Opinion
Summary
Analysis
Stevenson returns to Anthony Ray Hinton in Alabama. For fifteen years, the State denied EJI’s requests to reconsider his case following new evidence. EJI eventually won a Supreme Court case on Hinton’s behalf. After thirty years in solitary confinement, Mr. Hinton was released. He was, Stevenson writes, “the 152nd person in America exonerated […] after having been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.” Stevenson then describes EJI’s continued efforts on behalf of juvenile lifers. Ian Manuel and Antonio Núñez “have a chance to be released.” Despite noncompliance from the state of Pennsylvania, EJI continues (at the time of the book’s publication) to fight on Trina Garrett’s behalf. In 2014, she was in a music video featuring Muncy Prison entitled “This is Not My Home.” Stevenson writes that Charlie and Marsha Colby are “doing well,” and Henry is no longer facing the death penalty. Stevenson ends the postscript: “The work continues.”
Stevenson finishes the book with updates on several cases, which underscores the importance of each individual case. This also draws attention to the continuity of the character’s lives, a factor that distinguishes nonfiction from fiction. Anthony’s release is featured as an example of the continued resistance of the State and the importance of relentless advocacy, and as a remarkable story of release after decades in solitary confinement. EJI’s continued efforts for Trina and her involvement in the music video convey her continued connection to the outside world and a sense of hope for her case.
Themes
