Kalief Browder

Kalief Browder
Born (1993-05-25)May 25, 1993
Died June 6, 2015(2015-06-06) (aged 22)
Bronx, New York
Cause of death Suicide by hanging
Occupation cashier

Kalief Browder (May 25, 1993 – June 6, 2015) was a 22-year-old African American who was arrested at the age of 16, on charges of robbery and imprisoned pending trial for three years. His case has been cited by activists who call for reform of New York City's criminal justice system.

Arrest and imprisonment

Browder was arrested at age 16, in May 2010, while walking to his home on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Browder, charged with second degree robbery, was on probation for a previous arrest and was unable to make $3,500 bail as a result. Maintaining his innocence, he refused to take a plea bargain that would have released him. The case was eventually dismissed and Browder was released in June 2013 after numerous postponements of his case and 31 hearings.[1][2]

For two of those years, Browder was held in solitary confinement or administrative segregation.[3] His story was covered in some degree by local press after his release,[1] and Browder was profiled in The New Yorker in October 2014 for being held for three years on Rikers Island without a trial.[4] The exposure of his case became the impetus for proposed reforms in the New York City criminal justice system.[5][6]

Suicide and aftermath

In June 2015, Browder committed suicide by hanging himself.[7][8] The conditions of his detention were widely seen as having contributed to his mental condition and five or six prior attempts at suicide while incarcerated, so much so that six days after his death, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy invoked Browder's experience in his opinion regarding an unrelated case.[9]

The lawsuit alleging violation of Browder's rights under the Speedy Trial Clause of the US Constitution continues on behalf of his family, despite his death.[10]

On January 25, 2015, the Washington Post published an article by president Barack Obama criticizing the "overuse" of solitary confinement in American jails. The president based his arguments largely on Browder's experience.[11]


References

  1. 1 2 Wallace, Sarah (November 7, 2013). Exclusive: Teenager Spends 3 Years in Jail and Charges Dropped, WABC 7 New York
  2. ↑ Teen thrown in violent New York jail for years without ever having been convicted, Huffington Post, Amanda Scherker, November 26, 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Justice Kennedy denounces solitary confinement, The Atlantic, Matt Ford, June 18, 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Gonnerman, Jennifer (6 October 2014). Before the Law, The New Yorker
  5. ↑ Gonnerman, Jennifer (14 April 2015). Kalief Browder and a Change at Rikers, The New Yorker
  6. ↑ (April 15, 2015). Total Failure on Speedy Trials in New York (editorial), The New York Times
  7. ↑ Gonnerman, Jennifer (7 June 2015). http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015 Kalief Browder, 1993-2015], The New Yorker
  8. ↑ Pearce, Matt (June 7, 2015). Kalief Browder, jailed for 3 years in N.Y. without a trial, commits suicide, Los Angeles Times
  9. ↑ Justice Kennedy denounces solitary confinement, The Atlantic, Matt Ford, June 18, 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  10. ↑ Kalief Browder's Lawyer Paul Prestia Says Incarceration Was 'Direct Cause' Of Client's Suicide, [Huffington Post|HuffPost Live (video)]], Rahel Gebreyes, June 9, 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Barack Obama: Why we must rethink solitary confinement, The Washington Post, January 25, 2015
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