JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Last week, the new York City Department of Corrections introduced it will stop utilizing solitary confinement to punish adolescents held in its troubled Rikers Island jail advanced, Mind Guard cognitive support the second-largest jail system within the nation. But a federal prosecutor mentioned the city’s reforms had been moving too slowly to address a, quote, "culture of violence," memory and focus supplement warned he might file a civil lawsuit over circumstances for teenagers held in Rikers. New York is certainly one of solely two states nationwide that mechanically charge 16- and Mind Guard cognitive support 17-year-olds as adults. AMY GOODMAN: Well, immediately we look at the incredible story of a 16-year-old highschool sophomore who was jailed at Rikers Island for nearly three years after he refused to plead responsible to a crime he stated he did not commit. It was May 15, 2010, when Kalief Browder was strolling home from a social gathering together with his buddies in the Bronx and mind guard best brain health supplement brain health supplement cognitive health supplement was stopped by police primarily based on a tip that he had robbed somebody weeks earlier.
He told HuffPost Live what happened subsequent. KALIEF BROWDER: That they had searched me, and the guy really stated-at first he said I robbed him. I didn’t have something on me. MARC LAMONT HILL: When you say "nothing," you mean no weapon and none of his property. KALIEF BROWDER: No weapon, no money, anything he said that I allegedly robbed him for. So the man really changed up his story and Mind Guard cognitive support mentioned that I really tried to rob him. But then one other police officer got here, and they said that I robbed him two weeks prior. After which they said, "We’re going to take you to the precinct, and probably we’re going to allow you to go residence." But then, I never went home. JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Kalief Browder did not go home for 33 months, although he was never convicted. For almost 800 days of that time, Mind Guard cognitive support he was held in solitary confinement.
He maintained his innocence and requested a trial, however was only offered plea offers whereas the trial was repeatedly delayed. Near the tip of his time in jail, the decide provided to sentence him to time served if he entered a responsible plea, and informed him he may face 15 years in prison if he was convicted. He refused to accept the deal and was only launched when the case was dismissed. AMY GOODMAN: Well, Mind Guard cognitive support for extra, we’re joined by Jennifer Gonnerman, reporter, writer, contributing editor at New York journal, and contributing writer to The new Yorker journal. She recounts Kalief Browder’s story in the present issue of The new Yorker in a bit 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 lengthy chronicled problems with the criminal justice system. Her e-book, Life on the skin: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett, tells the story of a lady who spent sixteen years in prison for a primary-time offense underneath New York’s Rockefeller drug laws.
And we’re joined by Kalief Browder’s present lawyer, Paul Prestia, who has filed a lawsuit towards town, the NYPD-the brand new York Police Department-Bronx district lawyer and 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, Mind Guard cognitive support inform us Kalief’s story. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Well, you probably did a reasonably good job of setting it up, and it was terrific that we received to hear Kalief’s voice describing what occurred. But simply to recap a bit, May 2010, he’s coming residence from a party late one evening within the Bronx, walking together with his good friend down the street, memory and focus supplement a police car pulls up. There’s anyone in the again seat who factors him out, saying, you realize-accusing him of a robbery that had happened one or two weeks earlier. AMY GOODMAN: Well, first, he really says, "I didn’t steal anything tonight.
JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, proper. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, so there was, from the start, it sounded like, not less than the way in which Kalief tells it, some confusion about the dates, which is critical. And he goes into the precinct thinking, "I’m just"-and he’s within the holding cell, pondering, "I’m just going to be here for a pair hours. We’ll clear up this misunderstanding." And, as you mentioned, he ended up doing nearly three years on Rikers Island, for many causes, but the system type of completely failed him in every possible method. There was no speedy trial. And during that point, he was locked up within the adolescent jail on Rikers Island. AMY GOODMAN: Explain Rikers. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Sure, certain. You know, when we speak about Rikers Island, it’s a jail advanced. There’s 10 different jails there. And I believe lots of people get confused between prison and jail. A prison is the place you go after you’ve been convicted and sentenced. A jail is the place you go while you’re waiting on your case to go through the courtroom.