Book extract: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/01/just-mercy-extract-bryan-stevenson-ian-manuel

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In 2007, when the Equal Justice Initiative first became involved in the issue of the incarceration of children as young as 13 in adult American prisons, there were at least 2,500 juveniles serving life imprisonment without parole. Focusing on the youngest children, and those facing that sentence for non-homicide crimes, Stevenson and his team argued in the Supreme Court that the practice was unconstitutional. The court ruled in 2012 that the mandatory death-in-prison sentences that some states continued to impose on children were impermissible. Prosecutors in many states still argue that the ruling should not be applied to those already serving their sentences. The EJI continues to seek a reduction in sentence for inmates such as Ian Manuel, whose story Stevenson tells below…

In 1990, Ian Manuel and two older boys attempted to rob a couple who were out for dinner in Tampa, Florida. Ian was 13 years old. When Debbie Baigre resisted, Ian shot her with a handgun given to him by the older boys. The bullet went through Baigre’s cheek, shattering several teeth and severely damaging her jaw. All three boys were charged with armed robbery and attempted homicide.

Ian’s appointed lawyer encouraged him to plead guilty, assuring him that he would be sentenced to 15 years in prison. The judge accepted Ian’s plea and sentenced him to life with no parole. Even though he was 13, the judge condemned Ian for living on the streets, for not having good parental supervision, and for his multiple prior arrests for shoplifting and property crimes. Ian was sent to an adult prison – the Apalachee Correctional Institution, one of the toughest prisons in Florida. The staff could not find any uniforms that would fit a boy Ian’s size so they cut six inches from the bottom of their smallest pants. Juveniles housed in adult prisons are five times more likely to be the victims of sexual assault, so the staff at Apalachee put Ian, who was small for his age, in solitary confinement.

Solitary confinement at Apalachee means living in a concrete box the size of a walk-in closet. You get your meals through a slot, you do not see other inmates, you never touch another human being. If you “act out”, you are forced to sleep on the concrete floor of your cell without a mattress. If you shout or scream, your time in solitary is extended; if you hurt yourself, your time in solitary is extended.

In solitary Ian became a self-described “cutter”; he would take anything sharp on his food tray to cut his arms or wrists to watch himself bleed. His mental health unravelled, and he attempted suicide several times. Each time he hurt himself his time in solitary was extended.

Ian spent 18 years in uninterrupted solitary confinement.

Once a month Ian was allowed to make a phone call. Soon after he arrived in prison, on Christmas Eve 1992, he used his call to reach out to Debbie Baigre, the woman he shot. When she answered the phone, Ian spilled out an emotional apology, expressing deep regret and remorse. Ms Baigre was stunned to hear from the boy who shot her but was moved by his call. She had physically recovered from the shooting ,and that first surprising phone call led to a regular correspondence.

After communicating with Ian for several years, Baigre wrote to the court and told the judge who sentenced Ian of her conviction that his sentence was too harsh and his conditions of confinement were inhumane. The courts ignored Debbie Beagre’s call for a reduced sentence. By 2010 Florida alone had sentenced more than 100 children to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offences, several of whom were 13 at the time of their crime. All of the youngest children were black or Latino.

It turned out Ian was very, very bright. Although being smart and sensitive made his extended time in solitary confinement especially destructive, he had managed to educate himself, read hundreds of books, and write poetry and short stories that reflected an eager, robust intellect. [After I first met him] he sent me dozens of letters and poems with titles like Uncried Tears, The Unforgiving Minute, and Wednesday Ritual.

We decided to publish a report to draw attention to the plight of children in the United States who had been sentenced to die in prison. I wanted to photograph some of our clients in order to give the life-without-parole sentences imposed on children a human face, so we asked prison officials if Ian could be permitted out of solitary for an hour so that the photographer we hired could take some pictures. To my delight they agreed. As soon as the photo session was over, Ian immediately wrote me a letter. “Dear Mr Stevenson … I hope this letter reaches you in good health and everything is going well for you. The focal point of this letter is to thank you for the photo session and obtain information from you how I can obtain a good amount of photos. As you know I have been in solitary confinement approx. 14.5 years. It is like the system has buried me alive and I’m dead to the outside world. These photos mean so much to me right now. All I have is $1.75 in my inmate account right now. If I send you $1 of that, how many photos will that purchase me?...

I don’t know how to make you feel the emotion and importance of those photos, but to be real, I want to show the world I’m alive! I want to look at the photos and feel alive! It would really help with my pain. I felt joyful today during the photo shoot. I wanted it to never end…

Please tell me how many photos I can get? I want those photos of myself almost as bad as I want my freedom. Thank you for making a lot of positive occurrences that are happening in my life possible. I don’t know exactly how the law led you to me, but I thank God it did. I appreciate everything you and EJI are doing for me. Please send some photos, okay…