“I’ve come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”-Bryan Stevenson: Ted Talk

2.3 million people incarcerated, 7 million people on parole and probation, and 1 in every 108 adult was in prison or jail as of 2012. This is Criminal Justice in contemporary America. A system that is used to implant false justice into prisons so that it satisfies the witness and strengthens the profit of the prison. People are willing to overlook the fact that “each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done,” in this situation, to comfort a witness and help the police. Bryan Stevenson, an American Lawyer, started the Equal Justice Initiative to fight against the injustices of today. The initiative focuses on unfair sentencing, racial injustice, and impoverished communities to help build an equal Criminal Justice System. 

This quote is taken from TED: “Because ultimately, our humanity depends on everyone’s humanity. I’ve learned very simple things doing the work that I do. It’s just taught me very simple things. I’ve come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. I believe that for every person on the planet. I think if somebody tells a lie, they’re not just a liar. I think if somebody takes something that doesn’t belong to them, they’re not just a thief. I think even if you kill someone, you’re not just a killer. And because of that, there’s this basic human dignity that must be respected by law.”- Bryan Stevenson. 

The Ted talk from Bryan Stevenson focuses on a person’s “identity” in the Criminal Justice System. Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative continues to break boundaries to fulfill equality and justice in the nation. Bryan’s ability stand against the injustices of today comes from this idea that a criminal is not just a criminal, and has an actual identity that should be respected by law. That a felon has dignity just as anyone else does, and it is not something that should be taken away when serving years in prison. That a criminal, despite their wrong-doings, shouldn’t be defined by the severity of their crime. A criminal’s life still has value. 

In today’s world, what depicts the amount of time one spends in prison is purely targeted at the severity of a crime and the condition of the criminal, rather than at the criminal’s past or their ability to recover. Some people are willing to put someone in jail for a life sentence without giving them a chance to re-enter the outside world for a second try at life. When in reality, that person has a meaningful life that is worth living. So rather than giving a criminal a chance to show who they really are, they let their crime and life in prison define them, when their human dignity should be respected. Many equal justice activists strive to change this notion for a “better world” and for the people who “are worth more than the worst thing they have done.”

This quote defies mass incarceration and the criminal justice system of today, which makes it so significant. Injustices and inequalities smother our modern criminal justice system, and people like Bryan Stevenson fight for a “better world” to abolish injustices and fulfill the dream of our nation. Teaching Americans, and even former inmates, to not overlook the idea that a person is more than their crime could change the Criminal Justice System and prison reform forever. The Equal Justice Initiative is a problem-solving idea that started with a big dream of equality. This idea and the EJI movement already do and will continue to defeat mass incarceration, give criminals a second chance, and implant justice within Americans. Bryan Stevenson’s belief that “we are more than the worst thing we have ever done” defies the modern-day Criminal Justice System to make society believe that a criminal is more than their crime.