Just Mercy (2019)
Based on Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Just Mercy, released December 25th, 2019 chronicles the true story of Walter “Johnny D” McMillian; a black man wrongfully convicted for the 1986 murder of a white woman, Ronda Morrison and his journey to emancipation. The story is told through the perspective of newly graduated Harvard Law student, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan). A bright young man who’s goal is to provide legal help and representation for people who are unable to afford that representation on their own accords. After forming the Equal Justice Initiative with the help of Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), Bryan visits the death row inmates being held at Holman State Prison in Alabama. It is there that he discovered McMillian (Jamie Foxx) and decided to do everything that he could to help him.
After doing some digging, Stevenson discovers that McMillian’s case was based entirely around a statement made by a man named Ralph Myers (Tim Blake Nelson), who testified against McMillian in exchange for a lighter sentencing on his own behalf. After viewing the notes from the testimony itself, Stevenson notices that it is extremely contradictory and pushes for perjury charges. Upon noticing the interest in McMillian’s case, law enforcement becomes uneasy at the thought of any information being unearthed about the original trial and decide to try and intimidate Stevenson and the people he had brought together in hopes that they would stop investigating the case. Police have one of Stevenson’s witnesses arrested, successfully intimidating him enough to prevent him from testifying and pull Stevenson from his car at gunpoint before conducting an illegal search. This however, does not stop Stevenson’s work on the McMillian case. He decides to go right for Myers, who ultimately admitted to making up the testimony as a result of police coercion and fear tactics after they threatened to have him executed by electric chair if he did not give the testimony.
Even with this new found evidence the circuit court denies Stevenson’s pushes for a retrial. Frustrated with this act of injustice, Stevenson takes to the media, appearing on 60 minutes to talk about his dilemma and gain the public’s support in favor of McMillian. He then decides to go over the heads of circuit court and appeals McMillian’s case to the Supreme Court of Alabama directly, where he is granted his retrial. With Myer’s updated testimony, the help of a man by the name of Tommy Chapman (Rafe Spall), and the hard work of Stevenson; all charges against McMillian were dropped resulting in a release from Holman State and freedom to live his life. Stevenson goes on to remain friends with McMillian and aid in the release of other wrongfully convicted inmates including that of McMillian’s old cell mate Anthony Ray Hinton.
Bias and corruption has been an intrinsic value of the court system ever since its creation, added to the abuse of power from law enforcement, there is an unequal sway in the favor of whichever side police are on. This imbalance leads to unfair trials, mistrials resulting in no conviction for guilty parties, corrupt courts and the conviction of innocents. Examples of this are present in the McMillian case as well as in other well known cases such as the brutal murder and kidnapping of Emmett Till; where an all-white jury ruled against the convictions of Bryant and Milam who later admitted to the crime in a magazine interview. With the rise in awareness of corrupt law enforcement, there has been an even greater push for reform in police as well as law upholding practices such as court. The goal is to reduce the sway police have in court settings resulting in a more equal and lawful trial.
One of the major turning points in this fight relates back to the murder of George Floyd and the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer that knelt on his neck for 9 minutes ultimately killing him. Social Justice groups, BLM groups and many others sat in anticipation through this trial, hoping that it would be fair and uninfluenced by police involvement. As both sides stated their evidence it became increasingly clear that if Chauvin was not convicted, it was likely there was some sort of corruption or influence on the case from Minneapolis Police. However, the end of the trial concluded with a conviction on all counts, much to the surprise of Chauvin, who looked completely shell-shocked by the news. His reaction shows how much power corrupt police officers believe they have over society, as Chauvin really believed that he would ultimately be released and didn’t even imagine a conviction, let alone three convictions. The tides are turning, and society is fighting. Law enforcement can not be revered as Gods, they do not get to choose who lives and who dies just because they wear are badge and have a state issued gun. They need to be held accountable for their actions and that is what has begun to occur, even though we are a long way from equal. POC are still being killed by police everyday, and its unlikely that those officers will ever go to court for their crimes. But I believe that the conviction of Chauvin did set an example, it sent the message “you are not invincible”.
