Bryan Stevenson

And when I finished law school in the 80s, this population of people being sent to jails and prisons,

And most specifically, the people who were being condemned to death facing execution were the people who I felt were most in need of the rule of law.

And justice.

And for me, stone-catching is like embracing people who are struggling, who are falling down, who are not sure they can do it.

And it's the gift we all get.

I mean, one of the things I'm persuaded is that no matter what your education level, no matter where you live, no matter how old you are,

no matter what you think about this or that, we all have the capacity to get close to someone who's fallen down, who's suffering, who's struggling, who's overwhelmed, and wrap our arms around them and affirm their humanity and their dignity.

For me, that's what stone-catching is all about.

It's about affirming the humanity and the dignity of the people whose humanity and dignity is being questioned, who have become hopeless and despairing about their humanity and dignity.

And as the recipient of that kind of stone catching and that kind of affirmation, I don't feel any choice but to participate in sharing that with the people I encounter.

It means that if someone tells a lie, they're not just a liar.

If someone 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 we shouldn't be judged by just that

One bad act.

I think we all don't want to be reduced to the worst thing we've ever done.

No human being wants to be imprisoned by one mistake, one falsehood, one bad reaction.

We desperately yearn to be seen as something more than that.

And I think it's worth committing to a worldview that allows that to shape our thinking.

And in so many of our institutions, in so many places, we've not done that.