“We have a system of justice in [the US] that treats you much better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.” – Bryan Stevenson
The following talk inspired one of the longest and loudest standing ovations in TED’s history.
Bryan Stevenson is a public-interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated and the condemned. He’s the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based group that has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent prisoners on death row, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill, and aiding children prosecuted as adults. One recent victory: A ban on life imprisonment without parole sentences imposed on children convicted of most crimes in the United States.
Your thoughts and opinions are welcome and invited!
Related articles
- Supreme Court rules mandatory life sentences for children are unconstitutional (ted.com)
- All of our survival is tied to the survival of everyone: Bryan Stevenson at TED2012 (ted.com)
- Marian Wright Edelman: See Something, Say Something (huffingtonpost.com)
- DOJ looking into Alabama prison sex abuse claims (onlineathens.com)
- Guards regularly raped inmates in Alabama prison (EndtheLie.com)
- TED’s first response to Bryan Stevenson’s talk on injustice (ted.com)
