Discussion Questions for Just Mercy

What are some of the structural issues that lead to mass incarceration in the U.S? How is the positionality of accused people impacted or conditioned by these issues? What are the different social identities of the author, and what are the discourses about each identity?

So What? Why are Stevenson’s different social identities important in the personal experiences he shares with the reader? How do Stevenson’s intersecting social identities, and the discourses that surround these identities, affect his positionality within American society?

How does the positionality of accused people affect their ability to defend themselves within the US “prison industrial complex?”

Now What?: What constraints does Stevenson face as he attempts to redefine what it means to be a Black male in America? To what extent can the people that Stevenson represents reconstruct the meaning of their social identities? Do they face similar constraints as Stevenson? How are these constraints different? What constraints do people at your community partner site face as they attempt to define the meaning of their own social identities?