Reviews

• Just Mercy is aptly titled. A must read.

  Absolutely beautiful, but eye- opening and maddening sad. A must read.

• 本書の英語のレベルについて

  現在1/3程読了した時点での感想です。 内容の素晴らしさについては様々な人が記述してありますので、英語のレベルについて申し上げます。 現在私は、TOEIC875点取得後、読む・聞く以外の能力も上げるため、英検準一級を目指してのんびり学習しております。 これくらいの学習者に本書はちょうど良いと感じております。実際、パス単準一級単語帳に記載されている単語もしばしば登場しますし、私と同様、英検準一級あたりを目指している方にはいいのではないでしょうか。 この本を読む前にユヴァル・ノア・ハラリ氏の『サピエンス』を英語で読みましたが、あちらの本も大変面白く勉強になったのですが、より引き込まれたのはこちらの本です。何よりも実話に基づいているため迫力があり、引き込まれてやめられない、というような経験を初めてしました。 『サピエンス』レベルの英語を読んで、次に何を読もうか考えている方、いかがでしょうか。

• A must read!

  Clarifying and educational! The best book I’ve ever read in this category. I read a great deal.

• Important book

  Anyone interested in social justice and the broken US justice system should read this book. Includes some heart-breaking stories that illustrate how unfair justice is in the USA.

• Incredibly Moving

  Over the past 25 years I slowly became aware of some very tragic miscarriages of justice. The more I read and paid attention the more I realized that the whole system from law enforcement to the politicians is massively flawed and corrupt. The worst of it all is that many people are willfully blind to the truth, refusing to even believe that the US sentences children as adults, puts them in adult prisons with no opportunity to ever get paroled. Some will close their minds with misguided outrage at the crimes rather than face the deeper issues. At times I thought myself possibly overly compassionate, until I started to pay attention to EJI. I believe Bryan Stevenson is an amazing person and a hero. "Just Mercy" is a fantastic book. A must read.

• 不当に死刑・終身刑に処された人たちを救うことはできるのか…

  アメリカの弁護士（Bryan Stevenson氏）が書いたノンフィクションです。Bryan氏は、EJI(the Equal Justice Initiative)という組織を設立し、仲間と共に、２０年以上に亘り、不当に死刑・終身刑に処された人たちを救う取組みをしてきており、本書は、その長年の経験に基づき書かれたものです。 Bryan氏らが救おうとする人たちは、全くの無実だったり、それほど重大な犯罪を犯した訳ではなかったり、精神障がい・知的障がいの故に的確な判断ができなかったり、強く同情すべき事情（非常に貧しい環境で厳しい虐待を受け続けてきた、等）がある子供だったりします。それらの人たちが、捜査当局による強引な捜査、不当な鑑定、被告に有利な証拠の秘匿・隠滅、裁判手続きにおける陪審員の不当なセレクション、被告に対する法的弁護の不足、そして、それらの背景にある根深い人種差別・貧しい人への差別により、不当に死刑・終身刑に処せられてしまいます。更に、刑務所に入所した後も、他の囚人や刑務所職員から厳しい虐待を受け、精神的にも肉体的にも更に病んでしまいます。 本書では、このような実態が、実際のケースを基に丁寧に述べられています。それ故に、書かれている内容は重く、時々、読み進めるのが辛くなる場面がありました。その一方で、心が温まるような場面も沢山ありました。 本書は、米国において、白人以外の人々・貧しい人々に対する偏見・差別が依然として根深く残っていることを、刑事手続きの実態を明らかにすることにより、強く訴えている本だと思いました。書かれているのは米国での話ではありますが、日本でも同様の偏見・差別が存在していないかどうか、耐えず注意していかなければならないと思いました。 洋書の難易度としては、法律用語がそこそこ出てきますが、その点を除けば思ったよりも読みやすかったです。 やはり話の内容が重いので、正直、万人向けのノンフィクションではないと思いますが、個人的には非常に心を揺さぶられましたので、広く読まれて欲しいなぁ…（邦訳も出て欲しいなぁ…）と強く思いました。

• 何が正しいのか

  現在進行系でも 何が正しいのか判断は難しいことが多いですが 法の隙間に落ちてもがき苦しむ人たちを 救うために奮闘する弁護士（ですよね）の物語 実話 です。 米国における racial injustice ってのは根強い問題なんですね まあ それも多面的な要素が有るとは思います

• 読みやすい英文

  中身は重い。黒人差別の歴史、今にも続く。マスコミの在り方、フェイクニュースと叫ぶ側の作戦、死刑廃止、未成年犯罪への重罰化、麻薬所持の厳罰化などなど考えさせる好著。

• What a fantastic book, it really blew my mind to learn how corrupted the American legal justice system is by systemic racism that seems to be just as bold as it was in the years following the abolition of slavery. The book was well written and moved quickly. I loved all the insights into the handful of cases Bryan referenced to underscore his message.

• I bought the book, and although it arrived disheveled, customer service quickly resolved the issue. I’m so glad I got it, such a great purchase! 🙌🏽

• A word of warning: don't start reading this book at night if you have to get up the next morning to go to work: the way Bryan Stevenson is such an amazing storyteller means you won't be able to put the book down and you'll arrive at work bleary-eyed! I first heard about Bryan when I bought Anthony Ray Hinton's "The Sun Does Shine", which was Ray's account of how, as an innocent black man, he found his way on death row. It was thanks to Bryan's skill and tenacity that Ray got to be one of the few lucky ones to be freed. Although I thought Stevenson's account would duplicate Ray's book and would be written in a legal jargon style, I decided to order it anyway and how glad I am I did! Apart from being a truly extraordinary person who has dedicated his life to defend poor blacks against the insanely inhuman USA "justice" system, he is also an amazingly gifted writer. From a literary point of view, his book is a masterpiece. From a purely humanitarian point of view, it should really be required reading in all the colleges, universities and especially law faculties throughout the USA. For the European I am (at least in this present incarnation) it is hard to understand how the American system can be so corrupt and lacking in compassion that innocent people can be legally murdered. The death penalty has been abolished in all European countries a long time ago. May all States of the USA follow suit now! Surely a book like "Just Mercy" paves the way for this.

• Excellent account of Rascism in US

• This book tells the poignant story of a young Harvard graduate lawyer who dedicates his life and career to saving the poor, the black, the uneducated and the underage victims of a seriously flawed criminal justice system, particularly (but not only) in several of the southern states. It is a well known fact that the US is a perpetrator of mass incarceration unlike any other western democracy, that the death penalty is given to people who are later proven innocent, that life in prison without parole is used even in non homicide cases and even with minors, that court assigned lawyers in some parts of the country do not defend their clients, that poor women with no pre natal care can be accused of murder if their babies are stillborn but there are no witnesses to the event, that the poor and racial minorities can be imprisoned for years for low level drug offenses. Yet this author's very personal narration of some of his most notable cases provides new awarenesses and jaw dropping reactions. What is most remarkable is the humanity that shines through here, the belief that justice can win out, that mercy is indeed 'a quality that is not strained' but 'dropeth like the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath', that mercy is at its greatest when directed toward those who 'don't deserve' it, that rehabilitation is possible, that we are all 'broken' and in need of repair in some way. It is not a despressing story; although the content is grave, it is peppered with human strengths and touching moments of solidarity. It is a human story about one man's mission and about our common invincible human spirit. Highly recommended to everyone, required reading for all Americans!

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