Seratt 2
The author of “Just Mercy” Bryan Stevenson noted that the justice system of the
United States favored people along socioeconomic and racial lines. It was described as being
at the crossroads of justice and mercy. According to “Just Mercy,” those who lack capital are
the ones who get capital punishment. The character of the justice system depends on how we
treat poor and disfavoured people as well as those condemned by society. Two wrongs do not
make a right, but a right after a wrong can restore normalcy, mercy, compassion and
forgiveness. In that light, capital punishments for even capital offenses are wrong. But at the
very least, a person should not be sentenced to death simply because they belong to a lower
economic class.
The ethical dilemma of capital punishment is controversial because people are
informed by many different viewpoints. People often hold the contextual belief that capital
offenses deserve death sentences or life imprisonment without parole. Such beliefs are not
worth holding because they lack substantial ethical and scientific backing. No judge would
sentence a relative, an in-law, or a partner to life imprisonment. But such judges would easily
sentence strangers to death in an eye-for-an-eye reaction. Just like Bryan Stevenson believes,
when people are far away from crime their judgment is easily impaired, and they quickly
make an unethical determination. The problem is that contextual beliefs only introduce
favoritism and bias. Because most people have a weakness when it comes to applied beliefs,
it would only be ethical to apply them in mercy and compassion toward everybody,
irrespective of race or class.
The eye-for-an-eye reaction that supports death sentences for capital offenses only
leaves the larger problems unsolved. The function of the judicial system is to ensure that the
justice sought solves the problem at hand. Sometimes it is impractical to restore normalcy.
Sentencing the culprit to death only skews the situation even further. Another death will not
bring back the original person murdered. It will not solve the underlying problem that caused
