Bryan Stevenson
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
I'd never been.
I had not been in a maximum prison.
I'd done some work at a low-level prison in the Boston area, but first time in any kind of secure maximum prison.
And I just started to feel completely unprepared.
And I parked my car and I went into the prison.
The guards were not very nice.
They sent me to the back in this visitation room.
And I was so anxious that I tried to rehearse exactly what I was going to say.
And then they brought this condemned man into the room.
And I remember being struck by how burdened with chains he was.
He had handcuffs on his wrist.
He had a chain around his waist.
He had shackles on his ankles.
It took them 10 minutes to unchain him.
And he walked over to me and I was so overwhelmed.
I just started to apologize.
I said, I'm so sorry.
I'm just a law student.
I don't know anything about the death penalty.
I don't know anything about criminal procedure.