This will make you think twice about justice in our nation.
Three years ago, a 16-year-old was arrested while walking home from a party in the Bronx. Police said they received a tip that Kalief Browder was involved in a robbery three weeks before. He was taken to the infamous Rikers Island, a prison known for punishing conditions and overuse of force, and locked away for 33 months without a trial or a conviction.
Browder went to court on several occasions, but he was never scheduled for trial. After 33 months in jail, Browder said a judge offered freedom in exchange for a guilty plea, threatening that he could face 15 years in jail if convicted. He refused. Then one day, he was released with no explanation.
So how did that happen? Browder, now a free man and 20-years-old, isn’t sure. But he’s on a quest to find out. He’s filing a lawsuit against New York City.
“They just dismissed the case and they think it’s all right. No apology, no nothing,” he told WABC-TV. Now at age 20 with his teen years behind him, Browder is first faced with finishing his GED and trying to make up for three years of his teen years lost.
Browder says he spent more than 400 days in solitary confinement, was deprived of meals, and was assaulted and beaten both by officers and fellow inmates. Browder attempted suicide at least six times. Last month he filed a lawsuit against the city and several agencies. The Bronx District Attorney’s office has declined to comment.
And his story is bringing to light a number of injustices in the criminal justice system. According to Think Progress:
Browder was stopped in the Bronx, where the New York Police Department came under particular fire for its over-aggressive use of stops and unsubstantiated charges of “trespassing.” He was purportedly jailed based solely on one report to police, reinforcing race disparities in the criminal justice system. He was held in jail pursuant to bail policies that routinely punish the impoverished. And he was held in solitary confinement as a juvenile, even though the draconian punishment has particularly detrimental long-term effects on youths.
Now the real question remains. Who will take responsibility for these deplorable actions?
SOURCE: Think Progress | PHOTO CREDIT: Screengrab
