As Ferguson awaits the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown shooting in Missouri, we speak to attorney Bryan Stevenson, author of the new book, "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption." With growing focus on the failures of the criminal justice system, Stevenson has been fighting those injustices case by case. He is founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a group based in Alabama that represents some of this country's most marginalized people — the poor and the wrongfully convicted. Stevenson has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court six times. In 2012, he won a landmark Supreme Court case that barred states from giving mandatory life sentences without parole to children. The Nobel Prize-winning South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Stevenson "America's young Mandela." Others have compared him to Atticus Finch, the fearless, fictional hero of Harper Lee's seminal novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Stevenson's book tells many stories, but focuses in particular on his battle to free an African-American man named Walter McMillian, who was falsely convicted and condemned to die for killing a white woman in Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Stevenson joins us to discuss his work, the situation in Ferguson, and why he argues that the opposite of poverty is not wealth, but justice. Visit http://democracynow.org to watch the full daily news program, read the transcript, or search our vast online archive. Livestream weekdays 8-9am ET. Livestream weekdays 8-9am ET. Follow Democracy Now! on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Stitcher, SoundCloud, iTunes, TuneIn, Google+ and Pinterest.

"Just Mercy": Bryan Stevenson on Ferguson, Prison Reform & Why the Opposite of Poverty is Justice

Headlines for November 26, 2025; “From Apartheid to Democracy”: Sarah Leah Whitson on New Book, Israel, Gaza & Trump-MBS Meeting; Mamdani’s Affordability Agenda: Incoming NYC Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan on How to Make It Happen; “Policy Violence”: ICE Raids & Shredding of Social Safety Net Are Linked, Says Bishop William Barber

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, November 26, 2025

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
Powerful petrostates and large polluting nations succeeded in blocking inclusion of a roadmap away from fossil fuels in the summit’s concluding agreement

Column — COP30's Three F-Words: Failure on Fossil Fuels

“I’m Not Going to Give Up”: Leonard Peltier on Indigenous Rights, His Half-Century in Prison & Coming Home; My Father Is a Warrior & My Hero: An Interview with Leonard Peltier’s Daughter Marquetta

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Thursday, November 27, 2025

The Historic Rise of Zohran Mamdani: Democracy Now! Coverage from 2021 Hunger Strike to Election Night

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, November 28, 2025

Headlines for December 01, 2025; Trump Meddles in Honduran Election & Vows to Pardon Ex-President Jailed in U.S. for Drug Trafficking; “Kill Everybody”: Could Hegseth Face War Crimes Probe for Killing Survivors of U.S. Boat Strike?; Trump Vows to Pause Migration from “Third World Countries” After Fatal National Guard Shooting; “Imperial Blowback”: Suspect in D.C. Shooting Was Part of CIA Death Squad in Afghanistan

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Monday, December 1, 2025

Headlines for December 02, 2025; “A War Crime & Murder”: David Cole on U.S. Killing of Survivors of Boat Strike in Caribbean; “This Is a Union Town”: Zohran Mamdani & Bernie Sanders Join Striking Starbucks Workers’ Picket; Trump’s Cuts to AIDS Prevention Are Devastating LGBTQ+ Communities Globally: Steven Thrasher

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Headlines for December 03, 2025; U.S.-Backed Ceasefire Is Cover for Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza & West Bank: Sari Bashi; Ralph Nader on Trump’s “Entrenching Dictatorship,” Reclaiming Congress, and the Fight Against Big Money; ”WTO/99” Filmmaker on Anti-Corporate Globalization Movement: “These Issues Haven’t Gone Away”

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Headlines for December 04, 2025; Will Hegseth Go? Defense Secretary Faces Anger from Congress over Boat Strikes, Signal Chat; Can a Deal Be Reached to End Russia’s War in Ukraine? Matt Duss on Latest Diplomatic Efforts; “Making America White Again”: Trump Further Restricts Immigration, Ramps Up ICE Raids; West African Asylum Seekers Find Safe Haven in NYC Volunteer-Run Kitchen

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Thursday, December 4, 2025

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claims he had nothing to do with killing two survivors clinging to the wreckage of their boat following U.S. strikes on September 2. These actions, along with at least 20 additional lethal boat strikes that followed, are widely considered by legal and military experts to be war crimes.

Column — Secretary-on-the-Defensive Pete Hegseth's Dept. of War (Crimes)

Headlines for December 05, 2025; Rigging Democracy: Supreme Court Approves Racial Texas Gerrymander, Handing Trump Midterm Advantage; 5,000 Arrests? ICE Descends on Louisiana to Carry Out Raids in World’s “Incarceration Capital”; Trump Calls Somali Community “Garbage”: Minnesota Responds to Racist Rant and Immigration Sweeps; “Alejandro Was Murdered”: Colombian Fisherman’s Family Files Claim Against U.S. over Boat Strike

Democracy Now! is a daily independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Visit democracynow.org to watch and listen to the latest interviews, read through show transcripts, search the vast news archive or to make a donation to support our nonprofit news program. Livestream weekdays 8 a.m. ET.

Democracy Now! Friday, December 5, 2025

An independent daily global news hour, anchored by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González, broadcast weekdays on 1,400+ radio and TV stations. Livestream the show weekdays from 8AM to 9AM ET at http://www.democracynow.org.