Cohen Testimony & Just Mercy (with Bryan Stevenson)

Bryan Stevenson is a a civil rights attorney who represents prisoners on death row. Described as “America’s Nelson Mandela,” his Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit law firm based in Alabama, is dedicated to challenging racial injustice and ending mass incarceration. Stevenson is also the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.


REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Q&A
Michael Cohen’s prepared opening statement before the House Oversight CommitteeMichael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight CommitteeAn article from the Washington Post about Representative Matt Gaetz’s tweet and the Florida Bar’s investigation Rule 35 - Correcting or reducing a sentence

Stevenson & EJI
Stevenson’s book, Just MercyThe movie adaptation of Just Mercy (2020)The Equal Justice InitiativeEJI’s The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass IncarcerationEJI’s The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (and efforts to create memorials in Berlin and South Africa)

Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of Education, 1954SCOTUS decisions concerning the death penalty: Furman v. Georgia (1972), Gregg v. Georgia (1976), McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)An article in the Washington Post on the McCleskey opinion and dissent (“fear of too much justice”)A 1994 paper by David Baldus and co. addressing to the “inevitability doctrine”SCOTUS decisions concerning life sentences without parole for juveniles: Graham v. Florida (2010), Miller v. Alabama (2010), Sullivan v. Florida (2010), Jackson v. Hobbes (2012)The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for juveniles: Roper v. Simmons, 2005 (and an article from the NYT analyzing the court opinion)The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for mentally ill folks: Atkins v. Virginia, 2002The SCOTUS decision that justified Japanese internment: Korematsu v. United States ,1944An article in the Washington Post on court nominees refusing to answer questions about Brown v. Board of EducationThe Scottsboro Boys case and the ultimate pardon of the wrongfully accused

Congress
An article from the Asia Society on the history of Asian exclusion actsHistory of The Klu Klux Klan Act

Constitutional Amendments
Eighth AmendmentThirteenth Amendment

Alabama
An article in the New Yorker about Alabama judges’ power to “override” jury rulings and impose the death penaltyArticles in Slate about Alabama’s Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee DayArticles in the Washington Post about Goodloe Sutton’s editorial calling for the return of the KKK and his subsequent resignation and replacement. Plus, Senator Jones and Representative Sewell’s reactions to Sutton

Judicial elections
An article by Adam Liptak in the NYT on judicial elections, and analysis from The Brennan Center on how judicial elections impact sentencingA 2012 article from the Yale Law Journal, “The Origins of the Elected Prosecutor”Recently elected District Attorneys in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, Baltimore

Relevant news
An article from the NYT about Virginia officials wearing blackface in the pastA timeline from the NYT on Jussie Smollett, plus an update on his role on the TV series, “Empire.” 

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