“We all need mercy, we all need justice, and perhaps we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”

Bryan Stevenson

Join us for a special screening of the Warner Bros. film, Just Mercy.

Michael B. Jordan and Oscar-winners Jamie Foxx (“Ray,” “Baby Driver,” “Django: Unchained”) and Brie Larson (“Room,” “Short Term 12,” “Captain Marvel”) star in “Just Mercy,” an inspiring drama that brings one of the most important stories of our time to the big screen.

Award-winning filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (“The Glass Castle,” “Short Term 12”) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote, based on Bryan Stevenson’s bestselling memoir.

“Just Mercy” is based on the powerful and thought-provoking true story of young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the main testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings, as well as overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds -—and the system —- stacked against them.

Just Mercy is 2 hours and 14 minutes long. After the film, attendees will have an opportunity to discuss the film in Zoom Break Out Rooms.

Discussion questions

After a lifetime of fighting injustice, Bryan Stevenson concludes: “The system treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent.” Is he right?

If we believe that the death penalty is broken, what should we do about it?