Table of ContentsIntroductionExamples of Logos in Just MercyConclusionIntroductionInnocent until proven guilty, this is not always the case for some people. The book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is about becoming a lawyer and revealing true events that happened to people. In the book, Stevenson explains how he represented and advised a man named Walter McMillian who was wrongly convicted of the murder of a woman, Rhonda Morrison, and was ultimately released after six years on the corridor of justice. died in Alabama. Stevenson uses Walter's situation and other real events to illustrate his book. He uses logos effectively by providing readers with solid evidence of what he claims, such as people with mental illness being sentenced to death, corruption within the police force, and how women are targeted by the police and other law enforcement agencies, in particular. the poor. Stevenson supports his claims with evidence, facts and the ability to demonstrate proof and verification. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Examples of Logos in Just Mercy The first way Stevenson uses logos is how prisons hold large numbers of mentally ill people. He says: “American prisons have become warehouses for the mentally ill.” He goes on to say, "Mass incarceration has been largely fueled by misguided drug policy and excessive sentencing, but the internment of hundreds of thousands of poor and mentally ill people has been the engine that has allowed us to reach our record levels of imprisonment. This created unprecedented problems. This allows the reader to understand how many people are sent to prison with mental disabilities and makes them think about how the person with mental illness could be helped or receive treatment at other facilities instead of going in prison and sentenced to death. row. Stevenson points out that “Today, more than 50 percent of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails have a diagnosed mental illness, a rate nearly five times higher than that of the general adult population. Nearly one in five inmates in jail or prison suffers from a serious mental illness. In fact, there are more than three times as many people with serious mental illnesses in prison as in hospitals; in some states the number is ten times higher. And prison is a terrible place for someone who has a mental illness or neurological disorder that prison guards are not trained to understand.” This persuades the reader that Stevenson is using evidence and facts to prove to him that there are large numbers of people in prison or on death row suffering from mental illness and causes the reader to agree with Stevenson on how prison is no place for a mentally ill person. Throughout the book, Stevenson took numerous cases involving a mentally ill person such as Herbert Richardson, who had a history of psychological health issues and trauma. He was executed for unintentionally killing a young girl. He also took on the case of a man named Avery Jenkins, a disabled man, convicted of murder and sentenced to execution. Stevenson won his case, and Jenkins was eventually sent to a mental institution. People should have the opportunity to get the help and treatment they need. Throughout the book, Stevenson explainshow Sheriff Tate and other law enforcement agencies disregard the laws and unjustly prosecute situations such as Ralph Myers' false testimony against Walter McMillian. “Ralph Myers began to have doubts about his allegations against McMillian. He also faced indictment for Morrison's murder. He had been promised that he would not be sentenced to death and that he would receive preferential treatment in exchange for his testimony, but he was beginning to understand that admitting his involvement in a high-profile murder in which he did not had nothing to do with it probably wasn't smart. Days before the capital's murder charges against McMillian were made public, Myers summoned police investigators and told them that his allegations against McMillian were not true. At this point, Tate and his investigators had little interest in Myers' recantation. Instead, they decided to pressure Myers into providing more incriminating details because, well, the story wasn't true, the investigators didn't have it. It is not clear who decided to place Myers and McMillian on death row before their trial to create additional pressure, but it was an almost unprecedented move that proved very effective. Stevenson then states: “It is unlawful to subject pretrial detainees like Walter and Myers to detention that constitutes punishment. Defendants are generally housed in local jails, where they are given more privileges and more latitude than convicted felons who are sent to prison….” This shows the reader that Stevenson is providing facts that it was illegal and wrong for Myers and McMillian to be sent to death row without being convicted. This also proves that Sheriff Tate and other investigators are not following the laws as they should be, including having Myers testify falsely against McMillian. Sheriff Tate and the investigators should have been penalized or punished for what happened and released from duty. Stevenson also uses logos when taking the case of a woman named Marsha Colbey. Colbey was a poor white woman living with her husband and children in a crowded trailer home. She soon found out she was pregnant, and all that worry and anxiety led her back to wanting drugs. “Marsha knew that pregnancy at her age was very risky, but she couldn't afford to see a doctor, she simply didn't have any money saved. Having undergone six previous deliveries, she knew what to expect and believed she would get the most out of prenatal care. She tried not to worry even though she had experienced pain and problems with this pregnancy that she didn't remember having before. There had been some bleeding; if she had been able to afford an examination, a doctor would have detected signs of placental abruption… One day, she was not feeling well and thought that a long hot bath would do her good. She settled into a tub of hot water a few minutes before she went into violent labor. She felt everything was moving too quickly and before she knew it, she had given birth to a stillborn son. She desperately tried to resuscitate the child, but he never caught his breath.” Colbey buried the baby near their home, when their neighbor finally noticed she was no longer pregnant. She then asked an employee at the school where she worked to call the police. Marsha Colbey has been charged with capital murder. “Over time, the Alabama Supreme Court interpreted the term environment to include the womb and the term child to include/10.1177/0306396815595923)