2017 Winner: Bryan Stevenson
With great excitement, the Stowe Center announces Bryan Stevenson as our 2017 Stowe Prize winner, author of Just Mercy (One World, 2014), which is a powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem, and a clarion call to fix a broken system of justice from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.
Bryan Stevenson is the Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. He has won reversals, relief, or release for over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row, argued five times before the Supreme Court, and won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color. He has also received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant.
Under his leadership, the Equal Justice Initiative has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill and aiding children prosecuted as adults. Stevenson has successfully argued several cases in the United States Supreme Court, including an historic ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are unconstitutional.
Stevenson has initiated major new anti-poverty and anti-discrimination efforts that challenge the legacy of racial inequality in America, including major projects to educate communities about slavery, lynching and racial segregation. He is also a Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law.
The Stowe Prize recognizes the author of a distinguished book of general adult fiction or nonfiction whose written work illuminates a critical social issue in the tradition of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The winning book applies informed inquiry, is accessible and engaging to a wide audience, and promotes empathy and understanding. In making this award, the Stowe Center recognizes the value of diversity to strengthen our communities.
LEGACY SPONSOR
“Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories told within these pages hold the potential to transform what we think we mean when we talk about justice.”
