“I believe that each person is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done,” says Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Stevenson is one of the country’s leading advocates for justice reform and has argued six cases before the Supreme Court. In 2012, he successfully argued before the Court that giving mandatory life sentences to juveniles was unconstitutional.
“That’s my mission: I really want to get in the heads and hearts of kids and persuade them that they can believe things they haven’t seen, they can do things that maybe others haven’t done before them, that they are more than their worst acts.”
Read Serena Williams on Bryan Stevenson for the 2015 TIME 100.
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- Inside the Massive Effort to Change the Way Kids Are Taught to Read
- Dubai's Real Estate Market is Booming. One Company is Making It Possible to Invest From Anywhere in the World
- How to Exercise When It's Really Hot Outside
- A New Documentary Sheds Light on a Pivotal Movement in Asian American History
- Far From Home: Afghan Women are Attempting to Build New Lives Abroad
- What Experts Say About How Valuable The Inflation Reduction Act's Green Subsidies Will Be
- What to Know About Long COVID in Kids
- Want to Do More Good? This Movement Might Have the Answer
Read More From TIME
