JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Last week, the new York City Department of Corrections announced it is going to cease using solitary confinement to punish adolescents held in its troubled Rikers Island jail complex, the second-largest jail system in the country. But a federal prosecutor stated the city’s reforms were moving too slowly to deal with a, quote, "culture of violence," and warned he may file a civil lawsuit over situations for teenagers held in Rikers. New York is one in every of solely two states nationwide that routinely charge 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. AMY GOODMAN: Well, in the present day we look at the unbelievable story of a 16-12 months-previous highschool sophomore who was jailed at Rikers Island for nearly three years after he refused to plead guilty to a criminal offense he stated he didn't commit. It was May 15, 2010, when Kalief Browder was strolling dwelling from a occasion together with his mates in the Bronx and was stopped by police primarily based on a tip that he had robbed someone weeks earlier.
He advised HuffPost Live what happened subsequent. KALIEF BROWDER: That they had searched me, memory and focus supplement the guy actually mentioned-at first he said I robbed him. I didn’t have something on me. MARC LAMONT HILL: If you say "nothing," you imply no weapon and none of his property. KALIEF BROWDER: No weapon, no cash, anything he stated that I allegedly robbed him for. So the man truly changed up his story and stated that I truly tried to rob him. But then another police officer got here, they usually stated that I robbed him two weeks prior. And then they said, "We’re going to take you to the precinct, and most certainly we’re going to let you go home." But then, Mind Guard cognitive support I by no means went residence. JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Kalief Browder did not go house for 33 months, even though he was never convicted. For nearly 800 days of that time, he was held in solitary confinement.
He maintained his innocence and Mind Guard cognitive support requested a trial, but was only offered plea offers while the trial was repeatedly delayed. Near the top of his time in jail, the choose supplied to sentence him to time served if he entered a guilty plea, Mind Guard cognitive support and told him he might face 15 years in prison if he was convicted. He refused to just accept the deal and was solely launched when the case was dismissed. AMY GOODMAN: Well, for extra, we’re joined by Jennifer Gonnerman, reporter, author, contributing editor at New York magazine, and contributing writer to The brand new Yorker journal. She recounts Kalief Browder’s story in the present situation of The brand new Yorker in a chunk headlined, "Before the Law: A boy was accused of taking a backpack. The courts took the next three years of his life." Jennifer Gonnerman has lengthy chronicled problems with the criminal justice system. Her book, Life on the skin: Mind Guard cognitive support The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett, natural brain health supplement tells the story of a woman who spent sixteen years in prison for a first-time offense beneath New York’s Rockefeller drug legal guidelines.
And we’re joined by Kalief Browder’s current legal professional, Paul Prestia, who has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the town, the NYPD-the new York Police Department-Bronx district attorney and the Department of Corrections on Browder’s behalf. Prestia can be a former assistant prosecutor in Brooklyn. Jennifer Gonnerman, Paul Prestia, welcome to Democracy Now! Jennifer, inform us Kalief’s story. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Well, you probably did a reasonably good job of setting it up, and Mind Guard cognitive support it was terrific that we acquired to listen to Kalief’s voice describing what happened. But simply to recap a bit, mind guard nootropic brain supplement cognitive health supplement brain support supplement May 2010, he’s coming house from a occasion late one night within the Bronx, strolling along with his friend down the road, and a police car pulls up. There’s any individual within the back seat who points him out, saying, you already know-accusing him of a robbery that had occurred one or Mind Guard cognitive support two weeks earlier. AMY GOODMAN: Well, first, he actually says, "I didn’t steal anything tonight.
JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, right. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, so there was, from the start, it sounded like, at the very least the way in which Kalief tells it, some confusion concerning the dates, which is critical. And he goes into the precinct considering, "I’m just"-and he’s within the holding cell, considering, "I’m simply going to be right here for a couple hours. We’ll clear up this misunderstanding." And, as you mentioned, he ended up doing nearly three years on Rikers Island, for a lot of causes, however the system form of completely failed him in every potential approach. There was no speedy trial. And through that point, he was locked up within the adolescent jail on Rikers Island. AMY GOODMAN: Explain Rikers. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Sure, sure. You already know, when we speak about Rikers Island, it’s a jail complex. There’s 10 totally different jails there. And I believe a lot of people get confused between prison and jail. A prison is where you go after you’ve been convicted and sentenced. A jail is where you go while you’re waiting to your case to go through the court.