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

June 1, 2020

"Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests"

The New Yorker
Bryan Stevenson , 1995 MacArthur Fellow

January 20, 2020

"'Just Mercy' Attorney Asks U.S. To Reckon With Its Racist Past And Present"

NPR
Bryan Stevenson , 1995 MacArthur Fellow

August 14, 2019

"Slavery Gave America a Fear of Black People and a Taste for Violent Punishment. Both Still Define Our Criminal-Justice System."

The New York Times
Bryan Stevenson , 1995 MacArthur Fellow

June 26, 2019