JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Last week, the new York City Department of Corrections announced it's going to cease utilizing solitary confinement to punish adolescents held in its troubled Rikers Island brain cognitive health supplement supplement jail complicated, the second-largest jail system within the country. But a federal prosecutor stated the city’s reforms had been moving too slowly to handle a, quote, "culture of violence," and warned he may file a civil lawsuit over conditions for teenagers held in Rikers. New York is considered one of only two states nationwide that mechanically cost 16- and 17-yr-olds as adults. AMY GOODMAN: Well, at present we look on the unbelievable story of a 16-12 months-old highschool sophomore who was jailed at Rikers Island for almost three years after he refused to plead responsible to a crime he mentioned he didn't commit. It was May 15, 2010, when Kalief Browder was strolling dwelling from a party along with his associates within the Bronx and was stopped by police based mostly on a tip that he had robbed someone weeks earlier.

He advised HuffPost Live what occurred next. KALIEF BROWDER: They'd searched me, and the man actually mentioned-at first he mentioned I robbed him. I didn’t have something on me. MARC LAMONT HILL: While you say "nothing," you mean no weapon and none of his property. KALIEF BROWDER: No weapon, Mind Guard official site no money, something he said that I allegedly robbed him for. So the man truly modified up his story and stated that I truly tried to rob him. But then one other police officer came, and so they mentioned that I robbed him two weeks prior. After which they stated, "We’re going to take you to the precinct, and most likely we’re going to let you go house." But then, I by no means went home. JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Kalief Browder did not go house for Mind Guard official site 33 months, although he was never convicted. For nearly 800 days of that point, he was held in solitary confinement.

He maintained his innocence and requested a trial, however was only provided plea deals while the trial was repeatedly delayed. Near the top of his time in jail, the decide supplied to sentence him to time served if he entered a guilty plea, and instructed him he may face 15 years in prison if he was convicted. He refused to accept the deal and was only released when the case was dismissed. AMY GOODMAN: Well, for more, we’re joined by Jennifer Gonnerman, reporter, natural brain health supplement health supplement writer, contributing editor at New York magazine, and Mind Guard official site contributing writer to The new Yorker magazine. She recounts Kalief Browder’s story in the present subject of The new Yorker in a piece 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 long chronicled issues with the criminal justice system. Her e-book, Life on the surface: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett, tells the story of a lady who spent 16 years in prison for a primary-time offense beneath New York’s Rockefeller drug laws.

And we’re joined by Kalief Browder’s current lawyer, Paul Prestia, who has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the city, the NYPD-the new York Police Department-Bronx district legal professional and the Department of Corrections on Browder’s behalf. Prestia can also be a former assistant prosecutor Mind Guard official site in Brooklyn. Jennifer Gonnerman, Paul Prestia, welcome to Democracy Now! Jennifer, tell us Kalief’s story. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Well, you probably did a pretty good job of setting it up, and it was terrific that we obtained to listen to Kalief’s voice describing what occurred. But simply to recap a bit, May 2010, he’s coming dwelling from a get together late one night time in the Bronx, strolling along with his buddy down the street, Mind Guard official site and a police car pulls up. There’s somebody within 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, right. JENNIFER GONNERMAN: Right, so there was, from the start, it sounded like, no less than the way Kalief tells it, some confusion concerning the dates, which is critical. And he goes into the precinct pondering, "I’m just"-and he’s within the holding cell, considering, "I’m just going to be here for a couple hours. We’ll clear up this misunderstanding." And, as you stated, he ended up doing almost three years on Rikers Island, for many causes, but the system sort of completely failed him in each possible 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, sure. You recognize, when we speak about Rikers Island, it’s a jail advanced. 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 the place you go while you’re ready to your case to go through the court docket.