Bryan Stevenson

Human Rights Lawyer | Class of 1995

Title

Human Rights Lawyer

Location

Montgomery, Alabama

Age

36 at time of award

Area of Focus

Criminal Justice, Human Rights and Human Security

About Bryan's Work

Bryan Stevenson, an attorney and a human rights activist, has devoted his career to fighting the death penalty.

In Stevenson’s drive to expose biases under which capital punishment is imposed, he has articulated how its use is linked to race and class discrimination and to systemic defects in criminal procedures. His efforts have succeeded in reversing a number of death penalties, sparing the lives of several people proven innocent. Under his guidance, the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama has become one of the most active death-penalty-defense operations in the country. Stevenson is the author of the Alabama Capital Postconviction Manual (1991) and the Alabama Capital Defense Trial Manual (1992).

Biography

Stevenson is a professor of clinical law at New York University’s School of Law and the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, a nonprofit organization in Montgomery, Alabama, committed to pursuing reforms and providing legal assistance to the imprisoned and condemned. He served previously as a staff attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights (1985-1989) and as executive director of the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center (1989-1995).

Stevenson received a B.A. (1981) from Eastern College, an M.P.P. (1985) from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. (1985) from Harvard University.

Last updated January 1, 2005

Select News Coverage of Bryan Stevenson

August 25, 2020

"‘Fund Us Like You Want Us to Win’"

The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Nikole Hannah-Jones, 2017 MacArthur Fellow
William J. Barber II, 2018 MacArthur Fellow
sujatha baliga, 2019 MacArthur Fellow
Robert L. Woodson , 1990 MacArthur Fellow
Bryan Stevenson , 1995 MacArthur Fellow
Lateefah Simon , 2003 MacArthur Fellow
Ai-jen Poo, 2014 MacArthur Fellow
Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015 MacArthur Fellow