Hon . Frank M . Johnson , Jr .
The judges and clerk of the U . S . District Court for the Middle District of Alabama welcomed their colleagues from the North with much-appreciated Southern hospitality : they served a delicious lunch and then treated their guests to Reflections on America ’ s Courtroom , an engaging and thought-provoking presentation on the history made in that courthouse . Not only did the guests hear a distinguished panel speak about the life and legacy of Judge Johnson and his successor , the Hon . Myron H . Thompson , they also had the privilege and honor of meeting and hearing from Judge Thompson himself . So began the New England judges ’ extraordinary three-day , self-funded journey into America ’ s past .
Hon . Myron H . Thompson
The New England judges departed the historic Alabama courthouse and walked the short distance to the Equal Justice Initiative ( EJI ) Peace & Justice Memorial Center . Some mused that Reflections on America ’ s Courtroom was so powerful , it was hard to imagine how anything else might be its equal . In hindsight , that sentiment was clearly naive .
Upon reaching the Peace & Justice Memorial Center
FROM THE BENCH
the judges settled into the auditorium . There , they where joined by the Hon . Benes Aldana , President of the National Judicial College , and the faculty and attendees of The Anti-Racist Courtroom course , to hear incredibly powerful remarks from Bryan Stevenson . Stevenson , Executive Director of EJI , author of Just Mercy , and renowned criminal defense attorney , clearly knew his audience : Jurists who have dedicated their professional lives to the rule of law and the pursuit of truth , accountability , and justice . He spoke our language , introducing himself as a product of the commitment to the rule of law – after all , he explained , it took legal action and judges to desegregate the schools that he attended as a child in Delaware . 3 He prepared the judges for their visit to the EJI Legacy Sites the following day , imploring them to consider the narratives that Americans tell themselves about the nation ’ s history — as well as what goes unsaid — and to challenge narratives that fuel hatred , violence , and bigotry . He closed with a compelling argument ; he asserted that Americans must engage in radical truthtelling about the nation ’ s history because “ we deny ourselves the beauty of justice when we refuse to tell the truth .”
With that introduction , the judges began to confront the truth . Walking into the Legacy Museum the next morning , they began a powerful sensory experience that brought them close enough to see and hear what must be seen and heard . In the initial exhibit halls , images and sounds of the Atlantic Ocean were inescapable ; judges from the Ocean State and the Bay State immediately faced ugly truths : that colonists in Rhode Island and Massachusetts played a critical role in rooting the evil institution of slavery in North America ; that many beautiful coastal New England cities and towns were ports of entry for thousands of Black people in bondage ; that the trafficking of Black people fueled the early commercial success of places that the judges call home ; that slavery was undeniably violent , brutal and dehumanizing ; and that Black people in America have continued to experience violence , brutality and dehumanizing treatment in the two centuries since the ban on the slave trade in 1808 .
The Legacy Sites brought the judges close to these and other truths that many Americans seem reluctant to acknowledge . The staggering increase in the number of individuals incarcerated in American penal institutions during the final decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century : from 200,000 in
3 See Brown v . Bd . of Educ ., 347 U . S . 483 , 486 n . 1 ( 1954 ) ( noting that the consolidated cases at issue came from several states , including a Delaware action , Gebhart v . Belton , where plaintiffs , Black children of both elementary and high school age , succeeded in obtaining a ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery and Delaware Supreme Court ordering their “ immediate admission to schools previously attended only by white children , on the ground that the Negro schools were inferior with respect to teacher training , pupil-teacher ratio , extracurricular activities , physical plant , and time and distance involved in travel .”)
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