JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Last week, the brand new York City Department of Corrections announced it can cease utilizing solitary confinement to punish adolescents held in its troubled Rikers Island jail complicated, the second-largest jail system within the nation. But a federal prosecutor stated the city’s reforms were transferring too slowly to handle a, quote, "culture of violence," and Mind Guard reviews warned he might file a civil lawsuit over conditions for teenagers held in Rikers. New York is one among solely two states nationwide that automatically cost 16- and 17-12 months-olds as adults. AMY GOODMAN: Well, at the moment we look on the incredible story of a 16-12 months-outdated highschool sophomore who was jailed at Rikers Island for nearly three years after he refused to plead responsible to against the law he said he didn't commit. It was May 15, 2010, when Kalief Browder was walking house from a occasion along with his mates in the Bronx and cognitive mind guard brain health supplement nootropic brain supplement was stopped by police based on a tip that he had robbed someone weeks earlier.
He told HuffPost Live what happened subsequent. KALIEF BROWDER: They'd searched me, Mind Guard reviews and the man truly stated-at first he stated I robbed him. I didn’t have something on me. MARC LAMONT HILL: Once you say "nothing," you imply no weapon and none of his property. KALIEF BROWDER: Mind Guard reviews No weapon, no money, anything he stated that I allegedly robbed him for. So the man really changed up his story and mentioned that I actually tried to rob him. But then one other police officer got here, they usually stated that I robbed him two weeks prior. After which they said, "We’re going to take you to the precinct, and almost definitely we’re going to let you go home." But then, I by no means went home. JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Mind Guard reviews Kalief Browder didn't go dwelling for 33 months, Mind Guard reviews regardless that he was never convicted. For almost 800 days of that point, he was held in solitary confinement.
He maintained his innocence and Mind Guard reviews requested a trial, however was only offered plea offers while the trial was repeatedly delayed. Near the top of his time in jail, the decide offered to sentence him to time served if he entered a guilty plea, and told him he may face 15 years in prison if he was convicted. He refused to simply accept the deal and was only launched when the case was dismissed. AMY GOODMAN: Well, for extra, we’re joined by Jennifer Gonnerman, reporter, creator, contributing editor at New York magazine, and contributing author to The new Yorker journal. She recounts Kalief Browder’s story in the current situation of The new Yorker in a chunk headlined, "Before the Law: A boy was accused of taking a backpack. The courts took the following three years of his life." Jennifer Gonnerman has long chronicled problems with the criminal justice system. Her e-book, Life on the outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett, tells the story of a lady who spent 16 years in prison for a first-time offense underneath New York’s Rockefeller drug legal guidelines.
And we’re joined by Kalief Browder’s present attorney, Paul Prestia, who has filed a lawsuit towards the city, the NYPD-the brand new York Police Department-Bronx district legal professional memory and focus supplement the Department of Corrections on Browder’s behalf. Prestia is also a former assistant prosecutor in Brooklyn. Jennifer Gonnerman, Paul Prestia, welcome to Democracy Now! Jennifer, inform us Kalief’s story. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Well, you did a pretty good job of setting it up, and it was terrific that we received to listen to Kalief’s voice describing what occurred. But just to recap a bit, May 2010, he’s coming home from a get together late one night time in the Bronx, strolling together with his friend down the road, and brain booster supplement support supplement a police car pulls up. There’s someone within the back seat who points him out, saying, you realize-accusing him of a robbery that had occurred one or two weeks earlier. AMY GOODMAN: Well, first, he truly says, "I didn’t steal something tonight.
JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, right. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, so there was, from the start, it sounded like, not less than the best brain health supplement way Kalief tells it, some confusion in regards to the dates, which is important. And he goes into the precinct pondering, "I’m just"-and he’s in the holding cell, considering, "I’m simply going to be here for a pair hours. We’ll clear up this misunderstanding." And, as you said, he ended up doing almost three years on Rikers Island, for a lot of causes, however the system kind of utterly failed him in each doable method. There was no speedy trial. And through that time, he was locked up in the adolescent jail on Rikers Island. AMY GOODMAN: Explain Rikers. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Sure, certain. You understand, when we speak about Rikers Island, it’s a jail complex. There’s 10 completely different jails there. And I believe lots of people get confused between prison and jail. A prison is where you go after you’ve been convicted and sentenced. A jail is the place you go while you’re waiting for your case to undergo the court docket.