The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to “Just Mercy” author Bryan Stevenson of Montgomery, Alabama.

Stevenson moved to Atlanta after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1985 to work with Steve Bright as a death penalty defense attorney. In 1989, he went to Alabama to run a death penalty defense program funded by the U.S. Congress—which later cut the budget. He then founded the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative.

“Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson