Eastern University (BA) Harvard University (JD, MPP)
Occupation(s)
Director of Equal Justice Initiative Professor at New York University School of Law
Known for
Founding Equal Justice Initiative
Awards
National Humanities Medal (2021)
Website
bryanstevenson.com
Bryan Stevenson (born November 14, 1959) is an American lawyer, social justice activist, law professor at New York University School of Law, and the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, he has challenged bias against the poor and minorities in the criminal justice system, especially children. He has helped achieve United States Supreme Court decisions that prohibit sentencing children under 18 to death or to life imprisonment without parole.[1] He has assisted in cases that have saved dozens of prisoners from the death penalty, advocated for the poor, and developed community-based reform litigation aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice.
He was depicted in the 2019 legal drama film Just Mercy, based on his 2014 memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. In the memoir, Stevenson recounted his work with Walter McMillian, who had been unjustly convicted and sentenced to death.
Stevenson initiated the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, which honors the names of each of more than 4,000 African Americans lynched in the twelve states of the South from 1877 to 1950. He argues that the history of slavery and lynchings has influenced the subsequent high rate of death sentences in the South, where it has been disproportionately applied to minorities. A related museum, The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, offers interpretations to show the connection between the post-Reconstruction period of lynchings to the high rate of incarceration and executions of people of color in the United States.
In November 2018, Stevenson received the Benjamin Franklin Award from the American Philosophical Society as a "Drum major for justice and mercy."[2] In 2020, he shared the Right Livelihood Award with Nasrin Sotoudeh, Ales Bialiatski and Lottie Cunningham Wren.
^McGreal, Chris (April 1, 2018). "I went to death row for 28 years through no fault of my own". The Guardian. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
^American Philosophical Society (2018). "2018 Benjamin Franklin Medal". www.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
BryanStevenson (born November 14, 1959) is an American lawyer, social justice activist, law professor at New York University School of Law, and the founder...
manner. In 1900, he ran for vice president with William Jennings Bryan. In doing so, Stevenson became the fourth vice president to run for that post teamed...
directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan as BryanStevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe...
controversial case received national attention beginning in the fall of 1992. BryanStevenson, McMillian's defense attorney, raised awareness on the CBS News program...
Montgomery, Alabama, by attorney BryanStevenson, who has served as the organization's executive director ever since. Stevenson has been working on Alabama...
Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (/ˈædleɪ/; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to...
leaders and influencers, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Greta Thunberg, BryanStevenson, Jacinda Ardern, Siya Kolisi, Gloria Steinem, and Albie Sachs. Geoff...
11, 2019 Ice on Fire June 18, 2019 Wig June 26, 2019 True Justice: BryanStevenson's Fight for Equality June 30, 2019 Sermon on the Mount September 25...
JSTOR 3636719. Bryan, William Jennings. "The Election of 1900," pp. 788–801 Bryan gives his analysis of why he lost Stevenson, Adlai E., et al. "Bryan or McKinley...
former Vice President Adlai Stevenson to serve as Bryan's running mate. In his speech accepting the Democratic nomination, Bryan argued that the election...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
Co-Founder of the Innocence Project, presenting the Golden Plate Award to BryanStevenson, Founder and Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative, a human...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
The convention nominated William Jennings Bryan for president and former Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for vice president. The ticket...
for the inclusion of Just Mercy, a memoir by civil rights attorney BryanStevenson. Picoult described Nelson's views as "sinister" and "demeaning to women"...
he supports the Equal Justice Initiative of attorney and activist BryanStevenson. Batiste is also among the sponsors of several initiatives, including...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
Walter Isaacson Elton John Earl Lewis Henrietta Mann Ann Patchett BryanStevenson Amy Tan Tara Westover Colson Whitehead Native America Calling National...
Cleveland/Stevenson I 1896 (Chicago): W. Bryan/Sewall 1900 (Kansas City): W. Bryan/Stevenson I 1904 (Saint Louis): Parker/H. Davis 1908 (Denver): W. Bryan/Kern...
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