The High Cost of Delayed Justice
Ten days before his 17th birthday, Kalief Browder was walking to his home in the Bronx when he was stopped by the NYPD. He was taken to the 48th Precinct and soon found himself in front of a judge, where he was accused of robbery, grand larceny, and assault.
His family didn't have the money for bail, so Kalief was taken to Rikers Island, where he lived for the next three years, awaiting trial. While many of his peers went to class, to prom, and graduated from high school, Kalief spent most of his time in solitary confinement. He tried to commit suicide several times. He was finally released in the spring of 2013, though he was never convicted of a crime.
Journalist Jennifer Gonnerman wrote about Kalief in The New Yorker last October. The young man became a symbol for criminal justice reform: Senator Rand Paul spoke about him on the campaign trail, and Mayor Bill de Blasio has also cited his case.
Unfortunately, Kalief's mental health issues continued after his release. After months of ups and downs, he committed suicide last weekend, at his mother's home in the Bronx.
Stanley Richards knows Rikers from the inside out. Once an inmate at the prison complex, Richards now serves on the New York City Board of Corrections and he's the vice president of the Fortune Society. Richards says Kalief's story raises a lot of questions about the conditions at Rikers Island and the juvenile justice system in this country.
Kalief Browder. I still don't know what to say, to do. So for now, I say his name: #KaliefBrowder. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/8ZWYtDinII
— elisabeth. (@elisabethepps) June 9, 2015
