Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, scholar, author, and activist whose career has been dedicated to illuminating the legacy of inequity and racism in the U.S. and to seeking justice for the poor, incarcerated, and condemned. He is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a renowned Montgomery, Alabama-based nonprofit that has exonerated innocent death row prisoners and aided in reforming criminal justice policies around excessive sentencing and mistreatment of the incarcerated.
Professional positions
- 1998–present: Professor of law (1998–2019), Aronson Family Professor of Criminal Justice (2019–present), and University Professor (2022–present), New York University School of Law
- 1989–present: Founder and executive director, Equal Justice Initiative
- 1985–1990: Staff attorney, Southern Center for Human Rights
Notable publications
- Stevenson, Bryan. 2014. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Spiegel & Grau.
- Stevenson, Bryan. 2006. “Confronting Mass Imprisonment and Restoring Fairness to Collateral Review of Criminal Cases.” Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 41(2): 339–367.
- Stevenson, Bryan. 2003. “The Ultimate Authority on the Ultimate Punishment: The Requisite Role of the Jury in Capital Sentencing.” Alabama Law Review 54(4): 1091–1155.
- Stevenson, Bryan. 2002. “The Politics of Fear and Death: Successive Problems in Capital Federal Habeas Corpus Cases.” NYU Law Review 77(3): 699–795.
Degrees
- JD, Harvard Law School
- MPP, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- BA, history and political science, Eastern University
