New York man, jailed for 3 years without trial, kills himself

Actually, this should read "New York child"...

Kalief Browder was 16 when he was arrested in 2010 for allegedly stealing a backpack in New York City.The teen's family was unable to raise the $10,000 bond to release him from Rikers Island, and he spent three years awaiting trial at the prison

After all of this time being held in a men's prison, for what amounts to a petty crime, the charges were simply dismissed.

Is this somebody's...anybody's...idea of justice?

I think what caused the suicide was his incarceration and those hundreds and hundreds of nights in solitary confinement, where there were mice crawling up his sheets in that little cell," Prestia said told the newspaper. "Being starved, and not being taken to the shower for two weeks at a time ... those were direct contributing factors. ... That was the pain and sadness that he had to deal with every day, and I think it was too much for him.

The land of the free...really?

Suicide after 3 Years in Jail with no Trial

a reply to: mobiusmale

would be nice to have a link to the story. why so long for a petty crime to come to court? were the charges dismissed after or before? many more questions and links might answer some.

a reply to: mobiusmale

Yeah, I read this online the other day (maybe yesterday)...sad story, and a direct affront to how our justice system is supposed to work.

Of course, as with everything, I question the veracity of some of the claims in your quotes (a link would be nice to have to read the whole thing, btw), but that doesn't excuse--at all--keeping someone incarcerated for three years without trial.

This actually infuriates me the more I think about it...

a reply to: mobiusmale

Why wasn't he given a trial? Doesn't the U.S. Constitution and case law give a time limit that the state must adhere to (and that's why so many were kept off-shore in Cuba, so the time when a trial had to be held couldn't elapse). Did he have a lawyer? Strange.

a reply to: mobiusmale

Walk a mile in a mans shoes…

video of 'treatment' while in prison

here is one article, seems he couldn't shake what happens to some people after being in solitary confinement.
he also was out.
Kalief Browder, Held at Rikers Island for 3 Years Without Trial, Commits Suicide

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
a reply to: mobiusmale

would be nice to have a link to the story. why so long for a petty crime to come to court? were the charges dismissed after or before? many more questions and links might answer some.

Oops...

Link has been added now.

Committing suicide often means, he has been murdered.

Read the article, he may have committed suicide but its still more like they murdered him, crushed his soul.

a reply to: Aleister

(and that's why so many were kept off-shore in Cuba, so the time when a trial had to be held couldn't elapse)

got any proof that anyone other than terror suspects are held in cuba.

and
here is the story from the new yorker about his arrest and being held. he was on probation from a crime before which he said he was present but didn't do anything but watch. also the judge gave him “youthful offender” status, which means that he wouldn't have a record after the probation was over when he was arrested and went to arraignment that's why he was held.

Before the Law A boy was accused of taking a backpack. The courts took the next three years of his life.

originally posted by: Unity_99
Committing suicide often means, he has been murdered.

Read the article, he may have committed suicide but its still more like they murdered him, crushed his soul.

I completely agree.

I wonder, was the guard who attacked him (an innocent kid remember) on the video every charged? Did he have to then spend 3 years in solitary confinement waiting for his trial?

Why was this boy not placed in a minimum security juvenile facility of some sort? Why was he not monitored (or protected) by Child Protective Services during his incarceration?

Why is there not some mechanism by which a child is protected from long-term custody, while awaiting trial - just because his family is too poor to make Bond?

Nothing about this situation seems right or just.

a reply to: mobiusmale

After reading the article and watching the videos I can say nothing more than I'm disgusted.
And that's a word I do not use lightly, I mean, I'm truly disgusted. A pit in my stomach, saliva in the mouth warning me that I will puke disgusted.

It's a disgrace to the entire human race.

a reply to: ColdNCursed

don't worry the feeling will pass in time and you'll go on with your life making no effort to correct these issues in our society, no change will occur other then a slight alteration to your own personal opinions, as if those are ever any good to our society

we all know this because most of us on ats have already been there, shocked and disgusted at how inhumane our culture has become, and likewise none of us ever do a damn thing more then post here that it disgusts us, then we all just move on with life.










one of these days we need to actually stand up and do something about it.

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
a reply to: Aleister

(and that's why so many were kept off-shore in Cuba, so the time when a trial had to be held couldn't elapse)

got any proof that anyone other than terror suspects are held in cuba.

and
here is the story from the new yorker about his arrest and being held. he was on probation from a crime before which he said he was present but didn't do anything but watch. also the judge gave him “youthful offender” status, which means that he wouldn't have a record after the probation was over when he was arrested and went to arraignment that's why he was held.

Before the Law A boy was accused of taking a backpack. The courts took the next three years of his life.

Thanks for posting this article.

It provides a much more comprehensive litany of the complete travesty that this was...how completely inept and uncaring "the system" is...and provides a lot of insight into how a young boy's life and spirit was simply crushed.

What a farce it is that the 6-month speedy trial rule does not count the actual time that elapses...but only the time that the prosecution asks for in terms of an adjournment (ie. if they ask for 1 day, but the judge reschedules for 6 weeks later...it only counts as 1 day).

How is it that an unproven accusation of committing a crime counts as a violation of probation...which is the reason given for his being held pending Bond? The concept of being innocent until proven guilty does not apply to people who have pled guilty to another crime that is completely unrelated to the matter at hand - surely must be unconstitutional.

It would seem that, to a large degree, the way that the State of New York is trying to clear up its horrific backlog of cases...is by delaying trials so as to force people to accept guilty please in order to be released.

Kalief refused to give in to this pressure tactic, standing his ground and demanding his day in court based on his knowledge that he was innocent - even when the Judge gave him the opportunity to go home that day if he pled guilty to a lesser charge.

Ultimately, he won his freedom...but the system had ground him down, he was too damaged to recover...and he paid with his life.

How many more Kalief's are there out there right now?

Please continue the discussion in the thread below:

www.abovetopsecret.com...


Thank you. Closed.