Answer:
In Just Mercy, Stevenson uses a variety of persuasive appeals to support his claims, but one way he uses it is through the use of emotional appeals. One specific claim that he makes is that everyone is deserving of some grace/forgiveness. He uses emotional appeals to support this claim by providing stories of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted, and the emotional toll that their unjust treatment has had on them and their families.
For example, in chapter 3, Stevenson tells the story of Walter McMillian, a man who was falsely accused and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. Stevenson describes the emotional suffering that McMillian and his family went through as a result of his wrongful conviction, including the fear and hopelessness that McMillian experienced on death row. Through this story, Stevenson evokes feelings of empathy and compassion in the reader, making it clear that McMillian and others like him are deserving of grace and forgiveness.
Stevenson writes, “Walter McMillian’s experience of being falsely accused and facing the death penalty was a nightmare, but the fact that it could happen to anyone is a tragedy. The system had failed him, but it also failed all of us. We should be outraged and saddened by the injustice that he and so many others have suffered.”
This passage shows how Stevenson uses emotional appeals to support his claim that everyone is deserving of some grace/forgiveness by evoking feelings of empathy and compassion in the reader and making it clear that McMillian's experience of injustice is a tragedy that should be shared by all of us.