Bryan Stevenson

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

Bryan Stevenson is a public-interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which is committed to eliminating bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system. A professor at New York University Law School and a graduate of Harvard Law School, he argued for and won the historic ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children 17 or younger are unconstitutional. His new book, Just Mercy, profiles the lives of men, women, and children who are at the mercy of a broken criminal justice system.

Bryan Stevenson - Just Mercy: Reforming the Criminal Justice System - 11/25/14

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan
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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.

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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)

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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

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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 8, 2025

Bryan Stevenson Podcast

Bryan Stevenson (2/24/17)

Extended conversation with Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, the nonprofit behind the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the country’s first-ever memorial to the victims of lynching in the United States. 

Visit https://democracynow.org to watch and share each interview separately, to read the complete transcript, search the vast news archive, or to make a donation to support our non-profit news program. Livestream weekdays 8-9am ET. Follow Democracy Now! on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Stitcher, SoundCloud, iTunes, TuneIn, Google+ and Pinterest. Listen to the full hour of Democracy Now! — your daily independent, global news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González.

Web Extra: Bryan Stevenson on Slavery, White Supremacy, Prisons & More

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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.

Web Extra: Bryan Stevenson on Slavery, White Supremacy, Prisons & More

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