Stevenson’s Definition of Social Justice

Bryan Stevenson defines social injustice as something that not only goes on in the courtroom but something that all of America is effected by. He tells us of how we have come a long way from the injustice we had created such as slavery and women’s rights but we still have a lot of issues we need to work on. Issues like a thirteen year old boy being tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. This does not seem fair and, as he pointed out, many countries do not have this kind of strict punishment at such a young age. So why is it that Americans try young kids as adults? This, as Stevenson says, is due to the inequality and injustices in the courtroom. Also he believes another injustice is that the poor are being prosecuted more than the rich. This sends the message that it does not matter if you are guilty or innocent because if you have enough money you can get away with anything. He even goes into a story describing how he created this case for a poor young man in which he defended him as if he was a rich old man. This and many more injustices he still views as being an issue in today’s society.