Published in The Los Angeles Times

By John Anderson

Whether you’re running a major studio or see a movie once a year, you know who Steven Spielberg is. You might be a classical music impresario or a death-metal junkie, but you still know the name Yo-Yo Ma. And if you’re involved in criminal-justice reform, death-penalty appeals, poverty law and the struggle for racial justice in the U.S. courts, you certainly know Bryan Stevenson. But otherwise, you might say, “Huh?”

From Tanya Coke: “I looked over at him and asked him how long he planned to do this work. I was imagining that he would say five years, tops; capital defense work was so stressful, and he had a degree from Harvard and could have made a career anywhere. But instead he answered, ‘As long as it takes.’ ‘As long as what takes?’ I asked. And he replied, ‘As long as it takes to end the death penalty in America.’