Bryan Stevenson, an acclaimed public interest lawyer whose memoir, “Just Mercy,” was adapted into a feature film, will speak in South Bend at a free public event sponsored by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns.

Stevenson’s talk is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Morris Performing Arts Center in downtown South Bend. Everyone in the community is invited, there is no cost to attend, and no ticket is required. Doors will open at 5 p.m. A free shuttle will be available between Notre Dame’s campus and downtown on the evening of the event. 

Stevenson’s talk is this year’s Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Distinguished Catholic Social Tradition Lecture. Established in 2009, the lecture invites exemplars from diverse fields who share the Center for Social Concerns’ abiding commitments to human dignity and the common good.

Stevenson’s lecture is also part of the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum, which is organized around the theme “What Do We Owe Each Other?”

University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., will introduce Stevenson at the event.

“It is a privilege to welcome a leader whose public life has been guided by the question at the heart of this year’s Notre Dame Forum in the way that Bryan Stevenson’s has,” Father Dowd said. “For more than 30 years he has worked with tireless commitment to advance economic and racial justice in our country, and his example is an inspiration to us all.”

This is the first time that the Rev. Bernie Clark, C.S.C., Lecture is being held off campus.

“I cannot imagine a more perfect person than Bryan Stevenson to serve as this year’s distinguished lecturer. His lifelong commitment to justice has been extraordinary,” said Suzanne Shanahan, the Leo and Arlene Hawk Executive Director of the Center for Social Concerns.

“To be hosting this conversation in the heart of our community makes it even more special,” Shanahan said. “We are thrilled that we will all be able to benefit from Stevenson’s experience and wisdom. Our hope is that we will share in those challenging conversations about racial justice as we together aspire to a more just carceral system.”

Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization based in Montgomery, Alabama. His memoir, “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” became a bestseller and was adapted into a feature film in 2019 starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson.

Stevenson has won multiple U.S. Supreme Court cases, including a 2019 ruling that protects condemned prisoners who suffer from dementia and a 2012 ruling that banned sentences of mandatory life imprisonment without parole for children 17 or younger. He and his staff have won reversals, relief or release from prison for more than 140 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row and won relief for hundreds of others who were wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced.

In addition, Stevenson led the creation of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Sites, which include the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. These powerful new landmarks in Montgomery chronicle the nation’s legacy of slavery, lynching and racial segregation while making connections to today’s crisis of mass incarceration and contemporary issues of racial bias.

Stevenson’s lecture is co-sponsored by several other units at Notre Dame: the Department of American Studies, the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, the Initiative on Race and Resilience, the Law School and the Office of the President.

Find more details about Stevenson’s lecture, including location, parking and shuttle information, at socialconcerns.nd.edu/bernieclark.

Originally published by Kevin Allen at americanstudies.nd.edu on Oct. 9.