Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson
19 jurisdictions · Banned 2020-2025 · Published
Just Mercy is Bryan Stevenson's 2014 memoir of his work as a death row attorney with the Equal Justice Initiative, banned or restricted in 19+ U.S. jurisdictions.
Why it was banned
The book has been removed from school libraries and reading lists in Mississippi, Texas, and Florida, often grouped with The New Jim Crow under similar cited reasoning. The book's account of wrongful convictions and racial bias in capital sentencing has been described by challengers as "anti-law-enforcement."
Cited reasons
- depictions of racial violence in criminal justice
- anti-law-enforcement framing claim
Primary states
Mississippi, Texas, Florida
Why it matters
Just Mercy is the foundational text of contemporary American criminal justice reform. Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative and built the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The 2019 film adaptation starring Michael B. Jordan brought the book to a mainstream audience. Stevenson's argument that we are "more than the worst thing we have ever done" has reshaped how Americans discuss redemption and punishment.
Themes
- criminal justice
- death penalty
- memoir
- civil rights law
Awards
- Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
- NAACP Image Award
Where to buy
The Ledger recommends Black-owned booksellers. Each stocks this title or can order it.
- MahoganyBooksNational Harbor, Maryland · Founded
Independent bookstore specializing in books written for, by, and about people of the African diaspora.
- Marcus BooksOakland, California · Founded
The oldest independent Black-owned bookstore in the United States, named for political activist Marcus Garvey.
- Semicolon Bookstore and GalleryChicago, Illinois · Founded
Chicago's only Black woman-owned independent bookstore, with a mission to raise literacy rates among Chicago Public School students.
- Loyalty BookstoreWashington, D.C. · Founded
Black, queer, and woman-owned bookstore with locations in Washington, D.C. and Silver Spring, Maryland.
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Related banned books
Books in the catalog that share themes with this one.
Documented by The Ledger. A record of what Black America built and what was taken.
Book cover via Open Library. Editorial use under fair use.