“Just Mercy” Sheds Light on Lack of Change in AL Justice System
The film “Just Mercy” premieres Friday in Montgomery. It’s based on civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson’s efforts to free Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully charged with murder in 1988 and sentenced to death row. A year later, Stevenson founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery nonprofit that defends people who may have been wrongly convicted, often due to the color of their skin.
Anthony Ray Hinton credits the Equal Justice Initiative with saving his life.
“Had it not been for EJI, there’s no doubt in my mind I would have been executed by now,” he says.
In 1985, Hinton was convicted of murdering two fast food restaurant managers in Birmingham. Hinton told detectives he didn’t do it, but he says they didn’t care.
“He [the detective] said ‘but since y’all always taking up for one another, take this rap for one of your homeboys who truly did it,'” Hinton says. “And that cost me 30 years of my life.”
Thirty years. That was how long Hinton spent on death row before the state exonerated him in 2015. Decades later, wrongful convictions are still not unusual in Alabama. Kira Fonteneau is the former public defender for Jefferson County.
“Not much has changed,” she says. “The conditions that set people up to be wrongfully convicted still exist in the system today.”
Take race, for example. Fonteneau says people of color are being locked up for things they didn’t do.
“And we see that because there are a lot of things that go along in the criminal justice system that often will make it either easier for people to plea or for their version of the events not to get told in trials,” she says.
Fonteneau says often times people of color can’t afford an attorney or an expert witness ⏤ two things that are vital in many cases.
Carla Crowder is an attorney and executive director of Alabama Appleseed, an advocacy group that focuses on criminal justice issues. She says in Alabama, people of color are at a major disadvantage because of structural racism across the entire criminal justice system.
“You have vastly disproportionate numbers of white prosecutors and district attorneys,” Crowder says. “The appellate courts are entirely white and the Alabama Supreme Court.”
That’s why many civil rights attorneys believe Stevenson’s work, chronicled in his memoir, is so important. They say he’s leveling the playing field to make sure people have the legal representation they need to fight a system much larger than themselves.
A dentist is on trial for allegedly killing his wife with poisoned protein shakes
James Craig is accused of fatally poisoning his wife of 23 years and trying to cover his tracks by asking his cellmate to kill the lead investigator. Here's what to know as his Colorado trial starts.
Drake, Toby Keith and ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ have a big week on the charts
It's a slow week on the Billboard charts, but a few albums and singles are still having a huge impact, including Drake's new single "What Did I Miss?" and the soundtrack to the Netflix original movie KPop Demon Hunters.
‘Sorry, Baby’ is a story about pain and healing you haven’t heard before
Eva Victor wrote, directed and stars in this tender film about a woman trying to make sense of life after sexual assault. Although very much a drama, Sorry, Baby showcases Victor's comic smarts.
Greetings from New Delhi, India, where performing monkeys spark delight — and ambivalence
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
Israel strikes Syria’s capital Damascus
The Israel military said targets included a Syrian military compound in Damascus as well as a target near the Syrian presidential palace. Israel's defense minister said "painful strikes have begun."
The best games of 2025 so far, picked by NPR’s staff
From indies like Blue Prince to big console exclusives like Donkey Kong Bananza, NPR staff and contributors round up their favorite games of the year so far.