Bryan Stevenson's memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption covers the author's career as a public interest lawyer in the Deep South, focusing primarily on Walter McMillian's wrongful conviction and sentencing to death row. Though Stevenson and his Equal Justice Initiative nonprofit are ultimately successful in exonerating McMillian and many other condemned people whose cases are recounted in the memoir, Stevenson advocates for the continued need for increased awareness of the injustice of mass incarceration, the death penalty, and the practice of trying and sentencing children as adults.
After its publication, Just Mercy received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and Stevenson was awarded an NAACP Image Award. In 2019, the book was adapted for the screen.
