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“I don’t need you to tell me that you can stop this execution; I don’t need you to say you can get a stay. But I have twenty-nine days left, and I don’t think I can make it if there is no hope at all. Just say you’ll do something and let me have some hope.”
Herbert Richardson speaks these words in Chapter Four while on a collect phone call to Bryan Stevenson. The electric chair and its impending use serve as a focus of the lives of people on death row. When Richardson receives notice of his execution date, the end of his life becomes real and the darkness closes in. Stevenson initially declines to represent him. By denying Richardson this sliver of hope, Stevenson increases his own darkness, writing that he’s haunted by his denial. When Richardson calls a second time, Stevenson finds it impossible to say no even though the possibility of stopping the execution is unlikely. Simply by advocating for him, Stevenson offers Richardson the tiny bit of hope he needs.
His freedom was, in a small way, a sign of hope in a hopeless place.
This quote appears in Chapter Eleven as McMillian leaves death row and the prison for the final time. Despite his innocence, now free, McMillian feels guilt for the men he leaves behind on death row. McMillian shares that the other men gathered to pray for him, say goodbye, and wish him well. In the community created on death row, McMillian symbolizes hope. As Stevenson has illustrated, many death row inmates share similar backgrounds, providing proximity and understanding. Because of this closeness, McMillian’s hard-fought freedom inspires some hope for them all.
We need more hope. We need more mercy. We need more justice.
Bryan Stevenson shares these words in Chapter Twelve when he speaks following Marsha Colbey at a dinner in her honor. Stevenson speaks of Colbey’s time in prison being dominated by overcrowding and a culture of sexual exploitation and violence, but he highlights the closeness of the community of women there, where hope for one becomes hope for them all. Colbey’s advocacy for the younger women, even while she’s in prison, suggests a nurturing, maternal side that stands in sharp contrast to the charges against her. Stevenson’s quote celebrates the hope, mercy, and justice that leads to Colbey’s release. The words also advocate for more of the same on behalf of those he serves who have been deprived of hope, mercy, and justice through a system that discriminates based on race, poverty, mental illness, and disability.
