Last week 23 year old Kalief Browder of
New York committed suicide after mental issues caused by his time
spent in solitary confinement. Honestly, I had never heard of this
guy or his story. I'd heard some like it but not his in particular.
When he was 16 years old he was arrested for allegedly stealing a
backpack. He never stood trial and was never found guilty but he was
sent to Rikers Island for three years. His family could not afford
the $10,000 in bail (some say it was $3,000) so he stayed in prison
for three years.
He was beaten by the police, other
inmates and while there (which there was footage of) Browder spent
over 400 days in solitary confinement. He tried to kill himself a few
times while there.In 2014 Mayor Bill de Blasio used Browder's case
as an example of the broken system and declared that they would clear
backlogs in courts and reduce the amount of inmates. After being
released Browder earned his GED and started going to community
college but still had trouble living a normal life.
