Kalief Browder

Kalief Browder
Photographed by Zach Gross, October 2014
Born	(1993-05-25)May 25, 1993 Bronx, New York
Died	June 6, 2015(2015-06-06) (aged 22) Bronx, New York
Cause of death	Suicide
Alma mater	Bronx Community College New Day Academy
Occupation	Student

Kalief Browder (May 25, 1993 – June 6, 2015) was an African American man who was arrested at the age of 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack. He was imprisoned for three years on Rikers Island without trial and spent most of this time in solitary confinement. Two years after his release, Browder died by suicide. His case is cited by activists who call for the reform of the New York City criminal justice system and is the subject of a six-part docuseries on Spike, TIME: The Kalief Browder Story.

Early life

Browder was placed into care at birth by Child Protective Services because of his biological mother's drug addiction.^[1] The youngest of seven biological siblings, he was the last of five who were adopted.^[2] Including children in foster care, adopted children, and her biological children, Browder's mother had raised thirty-four children by 2015. Despite moving out when Browder was ten years old, Browder's father, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee, continued financially contributing to the family. The family resided by the Bronx Zoo in a two-story brick house on Prospect Avenue.^[3]

Browder attended the now-closed New Day Academy. During the interview, Browder himself remarked to Jennifer Gonnerman of The New Yorker that his report cards were populated with C's, although he was described by staff members as a "fun guy" who "[they] thought was very smart". His childhood interests included Pokémon, WWE, and visiting the Bronx Zoo. In his teen years, his interests included playing sports and going to the park and to parties.

Eight months before the arrest that led to his imprisonment, Browder was charged with third-degree grand larceny after a police officer stated that he saw Browder crash into a stationary car with a stolen bakery truck taken for a joyride. However, Browder made the claim to Gonnerman that he merely watched his friends partake in this activity, but pleaded guilty regardless, because he did not think he had a plausible defense. From this incident, he received a five-year probation and the status of "youthful offender".^[4] At the time, New York was one of two states that determined the age of criminal responsibility at 16 years, and Browder therefore was convicted of a felony.^[3]

Arrest

On May 15, 2010, at the age of 16, Browder and his friend were stopped by multiple police cars near East 186th Street on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx on their way home from a party. Browder was under the impression that this was a "routine stop-and-frisk", which he had experienced on various occasions. Police officers were responding to a call placed by Roberto Bautista regarding the robbery of a backpack. In Bautista's 911 phone call, he alleged that "two male black guys...they took my brother's book bag..."^[3] Once Browder and his friend were verbally confronted by officers about Bautista's accusation, Browder replied, "I did not rob anyone; you can check my pockets".^[5] Consequently, Browder and his friend were searched but officers failed to find the backpack in question or its respective contents of a camera, $700, a credit card, and an iPod Touch.^[3] After searching the pair, the police returned to the squad car where Bautista was sitting in the backseat. Then, Bautista accused the pair of "trying to rob him". Officers returned to Browder and his friend to convey this new allegation. They then returned to Bautista to "finish talking to him".^[3] Bautista now alleged that the robbery took place "two weeks ago". Due to the temporal difference in the new accusation, officers handcuffed and pressed Browder and his friend into the rear of the police car. By the end of this confrontation, Bautista had changed his story twice since the initial accusation of robbery. When talking to a detective, Bautista changed the date of the alleged robbery once more; while the report filed on May 15 said "on or about May 2," this date became May 8 in another discussion.^[6]

Browder asked officers "what [he was] being charged for" and said, "I didn't do anything!" again expressing his innocence. He remembered whispering to his friend if "[his friend] was sure [his friend] didn't do anything," after recalling that an officer said: "We're just going to take you to the precinct. Most likely you can go home".^[5] Browder and his friend were taken to the 48th precinct, where they were fingerprinted and kept inside of a holding cell for a few hours. Afterward, they were taken to the Bronx County Criminal Court, where they were processed at the court's Central Booking. Seventeen hours following the initial police confrontation on Arthur Avenue, Browder was interrogated by a police officer and prosecutor, where he continued asserting his innocence from any wrongdoing or crime. Subsequently, Browder was charged with robbery, grand larceny, and assault in a courtroom one day after being processed and interrogated. The presiding judge allowed his friend to go home for the duration of the case, but Browder was ordered to be held by the judge throughout the case's trajectory in the courts, citing his probation from his grand larceny charge eight months prior. During this arraignment, his charge was second-degree robbery. Bail was set at $3,000 but his family was unable to make bail for his immediate release and he was sent to Rikers Island on a Department of Corrections bus.^[7]

Imprisonment

Conditions

Browder, along with 600 other male adolescents, were locked in the Robert N. Davoren Center (R.N.D.C.) upon arrival. According to a report by then-United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, R.N.D.C. had a "deep-seated culture of violence" where inmates suffered "broken jaws, broken orbital bones, broken noses, long bone fractures, and lacerations requiring stitches."^[8]

In the New Yorker interview, Browder talked about the conditions in R.N.D.C. Inmates washed their own clothes with soap and a metal bucket, giving his clothes rust stains. Browder's mother began visiting every week and provided him with clean clothes and snack money. To avoid becoming a target among the inmates, he slept on top of his belongings, including his bucket. Browder also felt the pressure to gain physical strength to defend himself from prison violence. He told Gonnerman, "every here and there I did a couple pullups or pushups. When I went in there, that's when I decided I wanted to get big". Browder needed to "fight back" when inmates would collude and "swing on [him]" if he refused the orders of the prison's gang leaders.

Browder speculated that the prison guards were working with the gang leaders. This suspicion is well-documented on Rikers Island and is referred to as "The Program" (See: Rikers Island). On one particular incident, after he had just arrived at R.N.D.C., prison guards lined up inmates against the wall, including Browder, with the purpose of finding the instigator of an earlier prison fight. Although Browder was not implicated in this fight, he, in addition to other teenagers in the block, was subject to "punching...one by one". Browder described the outcome of this confrontation: "Their noses were leaking, their faces were bloody, their eyes were swollen." The guards gave them an ultimatum to either seek medical attention at the clinic or return to bed but threatened that if they were to go to the medical clinic and report this incident, they would be sent into solitary confinement. The aforementioned report by the U.S. Attorney cites many reports of intimidation by guards to prevent inmates from disclosing beatings.^[4]

During his imprisonment, Browder was severely abused and was repeatedly beaten by officers and inmates. ^[9] In a security footage acquired by the New Yorker of Rikers Island, Browder is seen slammed into the wall by a guard while he was handcuffed on September 23, 2012. The guard then proceeded to tackle Browder to the ground and two other guards joined shortly after. In another instance taking place on October 20, 2010, Browder punched a gang leader after the gang member spat in his face. He was attacked by a group of inmates as a result.^[10]

Trial status

Browder was provided a court-appointed public defender, Brendan O'Meara, due to his family's financial constraints which meant they were unable to pay for an attorney. Browder maintained his innocence to O'Meara, and the assistant district attorney called it a "relatively straightforward case", but his file was backlogged due to the number of cases in the Bronx District Attorney's office—in 2010, there were 5,695 felonies.

In July 2010, Browder was sent to the Bronx County Hall of Justice to be seen by a judge. By this time, he had been arrested without trial or conviction for 74 days. The grand jury indicted Browder of second-degree robbery. At this hearing, he was also accused of punching Bautista in the face and pushing him. Browder pleaded "not guilty" and was sent back to Rikers. Although his family went to a local bail bondsman, the bail posting was denied due to Browder's "violation of probation", filed by the Department of Probation as a result of his new violent felony indictment.

Browder repeatedly expressed to O'Meara that he wanted to go to trial. The state of New York's "ready rule", as opposed to speedy-trial laws in other states, maintains that both the defendant and the prosecutor must be ready for trial on or before six months from the date of the arraignment or else the charges can be dismissed. This applies to all felonies except murder. However, this six-month timeline can be stretched by certain legal inefficiencies. For example, the six-month period can restart or move if the defense turns in a motion prior to the trial beginning. This, in addition to the overwhelmed nature of cases in the Bronx, has resulted in 74% of such cases subject to the "ready rule" being older than six months.

On December 10, 2010, a potential trial was scheduled because both parties submitted a "Notice of Readiness". However, Browder only returned to court on January 28, 2011. By this time, he had spent 258 days in prison. The prosecution requested an additional week during this court date. Due to the backlogging of cases in the Bronx, one week translates into over six weeks. This continued for the rest of 2011 and was documented on an index card:

June 23, 2011: People not ready, request 1 week.

August 24, 2011: People not ready, request 1 day.

November 4, 2011: People not ready, prosecutor on trial, request 2 weeks.

December 2, 2011: Prosecutor on trial, request January 3.

For the duration of Browder and O'Meara's legal relationship, O'Meara did not visit his client at Rikers. Although he remembers scheduling a video conference, Browder does not. Most of Browder's communication with O'Meara was through his mother. Due to his lack of direct communication with O'Meara, inmates told Browder to ask for a speedy-trial motion since the six-month period since his arraignment had been over. However, due to the repeated one-week extension requests, this period was not yet fulfilled. O'Meara later remarked that unlike other defendants, Browder was "quiet, respectful — he wasn't rude" but appeared "tougher and bigger" over time.

Browder continually asked O'Meara, "Can you get me out?" and "I want to go to trial" throughout his time in prison. As time passed, imprisoned defendants often accept a guilty plea to reduce or ascertain their remaining sentence; Browder himself was first offered a plea bargain of 3.5 years in prison if he pleaded guilty, which was reduced to 2.5 years in June 2012. He rejected such a deal, determined to maintain and prove his innocence. He was aware that he would be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison if he was eventually convicted and lost his trial. The phenomenon of Rikers' inmates pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit and offers of plea deals are plentiful, while stories of inmates going to trial are extremely rare. In the Bronx, only 3.97% of all felony cases went to trial in 2011; the remaining 3,991 cases that made up 96.03% saw defendants plead guilty.

Though he was bussed to the courthouse several times, the trial did not come to fruition. Another index card documented the failure to be ready for trial:

June 29, 2012: People not ready, request one week.

September 28, 2012: People not ready, request two weeks.

November 2, 2012: People not ready, request one week.

December 14, 2012: People not ready, request one week.

By the time he had been imprisoned for 961 days, he had seen 8 judges. O'Meara noted that his determination to prove his innocence, remain calm in court, and his refusal of all plea deals was remarkable. Although he did not complain about O'Meara to O'Meara himself, he believed that "these guys are just playing with my case."^[4]

Solitary confinement

Browder's first experience in solitary confinement or punitive segregation lasted for two weeks at the Central Punitive Segregation Unit (known as Bing on Rikers Island), after a fight with an inmate. As he recalled, "He was throwing shoes at people—I told him to stop. I actually took his sneaker and I threw it, and he got mad. He swung on me, and we started fighting." The 400 cells at Bing were 12 by 7 feet each.^[4]

He was repeatedly sent to solitary confinement after trivial fights with inmates, as returning to solitary confinement required lesser justification once an inmate had first entered solitary confinement. Although his brother suggested that this alternative would be better than the prison violence in R.N.D.C., Browder recalls facing physical abuse in the form of beatings in the shower by correction officers. He elaborated that much of the beating that he encountered from the guards and officers were physically instigated by the guards or officers themselves and usually began through a verbal confrontation that the guards or officers would escalate into a physical altercation. Some of these anecdotes have been documented by prison camera footage.^[11]

In solitary confinement, Browder was only allowed to go to the recreation area, the shower, the visiting room, the medical clinic, and/or court, but remained handcuffed and subject to strip-searching when he did leave the cell. He passed the time by reading magazines such as XXL, Sports Illustrated, and Hip Hop Weekly, as well as street novels by authors such as Sister Souljah. Although he liked video games before his imprisonment, he would rather read street novels that other inmates lent him. He later moved onto political and historical books such as House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger. He was allowed a daily six-minute phone call, did not have air conditioning during the summers, and was frequently woken at odd hours by airplanes taking off at LaGuardia Airport, which is 300 feet away from Rikers Island.

Browder studied for the G.E.D. exam during his time in solitary confinement, where a corrections officer would irregularly distribute and collect homework that a teacher later graded.

In total, Browder spent approximately 800 of over 1,000 days on Rikers Island in solitary confinement.^[12] His longest duration of solitary confinement was 17 months.^[4]

Mental health lapses

Browder was losing weight in solitary confinement due to the small portions and his rapidly growing teenage body. He resorted to begging for bread from the guards, who usually refused. His brother remembers the depression that would set in once they talked about life in prison, although he would become charged and motivated when they discussed his impending trial.

After ten months in prison in early 2011, Browder attempted to commit suicide for the first time while in solitary confinement. By now, he calls to mind regular starvation by the refusal of officers to give him meals or let him shower. He again attempted suicide on February 2012, where he reportedly constructed a noose from a bedsheet he had ripped and tied together and tried to hang himself from a vent.^[13] Browder recalls officers encouraging him to commit suicide, by checking the progress on his noose making and by telling Browder:

"Go ahead and jump, you got it ready, right, go ahead and jump. If you don't jump, we're going to go in there anyway, so you might as well go ahead and jump, go ahead and jump. You want to commit suicide, so go ahead."

Browder later admitted he did not want to jump because he had "never committed suicide before" and he was "scared to jump" and "[scared] of dying". The officers came into his cell.^[14]

In 2012, after 634 days in prison, Browder was sent back into solitary confinement. On February 8, he crafted a noose out of bedsheets and attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling light. Once he received medical attention, he was sent back into solitary confinement but had his room stripped of anything except his bucket.

After another failed visit to the courthouse, Browder broke his bucket, sharpened a piece of it, and began slitting his wrists. An officer intervened and stopped this suicide attempt.^[4]

Release and post-prison adjustment

Release

By March 13, 2013, Browder's case was reviewed by a Brooklyn judge, Patricia M. DiMango, brought into the Bronx for the backlogged cases. She offered him another plea deal of admission of guilt to two misdemeanors and the ability to go home immediately, as the 16 months for those misdemeanors would have already been served by Browder's time in prison. He refused this plea deal as well:

DiMango: "I could sentence you today. . . . It's up to you."

Browder: "I'm all right. I did not do it. I'm all right."

DiMango: "You are all right?"

Browder: "Yes, I want to go to trial."

Thus, he returned to Rikers, where his fellow inmates proclaimed that Browder was "bugging" and "stupid" for not taking the tempting plea deal. However, he remained determined as ever to prove his innocence. He was quoted saying, ""I used to go to my cell and lie down and think, like, Maybe I am crazy; maybe I am going too far. But I just did what I thought was right."

On Browder's 31st court appearance, May 29, 2013, DiMango said that the District Attorney intends to dismiss his case when he returned to court next week but would allow him to go home immediately until then:

DiMango: "I will release you today, but you have to come back here on time without any new cases. Do you think you can do that, Mr. Browder?"

Browder: "Yes."

In a relevant development, Bautista had returned to Mexico and could not be reached for a testimony. The prosecutor concluded, "Without the Complainant, we are unable to meet our burden of proof at trial." Five days prior to his release, Browder turned 20 years old.^[4]

Mental health relapses

Upon Browder's return to his family home in the Bronx, he became uninterested in his previous hobbies, such as playing video games or playing basketball. He would now spend his time at home in his bedroom with the door closed without social interaction. He would pace frequently, which is what he often did in solitary confinement. His overall confidence had diminished more than significantly, as he felt like an underachiever among friends and girls, both of whom he had ample interest in before. When an attractive girl would give him her number, he became anxious about his former inmate status and his lack of a degree or job all while living at his mother's house. He described that "[women] look at [him] like [he] ain't worth nothing. Like [he] ain't shit. It hurts to have people look at you like that."

He explained his mental state of being to Gonnerman:

"People tell me because I have this case against the city I'm all right. But I'm not all right. I'm messed up. I know that I might see some money from this case, but that's not going to help me mentally. I'm mentally scarred right now. That's how I feel. Because there are certain things that changed about me and they might not go back."

Browder was extremely paranoid after his time in prison. Speaking to Gonnerman, he said:

"Before I went to jail, I didn't know about a lot of stuff, and, now that I'm aware, I'm paranoid. I feel like I was robbed of my happiness."^[15]

In November 2013, Browder attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrists once more, this time with a steak knife but was stopped by a friend who saw the knife. When his friend tried to find Browder's mother, he attempted to hang himself from a banister. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and admitted to the psychiatric ward for a "serious" suicide attempt, as noted by a social worker.^[4] In total, he was admitted to a psychiatric ward three times after his release.^[16]

Legal action

After his release, Browder and his brother Akeem were turned down by 11 attorneys in their quest to seek justice from the New York City criminal system.^[3] A family member found Paul V. Prestia, who worked to get a case involving a wrongfully arrested Haitian man in the Bronx, who was imprisoned for 8 days on Rikers Island, dismissed in 2011. Prestia was a prosecutor in Brooklyn and now manages his own law firm.^[4] In November 2013, Browder filed a lawsuit against the New York Police Department, the Bronx District Attorney, and the Department of Corrections.^[3] Prestia alleged malicious prosecution because the prosecutor misled the court that they would eventually be ready for trial, when in reality, "they never were". He questions if the prosecution knew that Bautista had retreated to Mexico, or if they knew there was no witness. The city of New York has denied all allegations.^[4]

In another related development, Preet Bharara, then-United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, revealed plans to sue New York City for the "unnecessary and excessive force" used on adolescents in Rikers Island.^[17]

In January 2015, New York City lawmakers voted unanimously to end solitary confinement for inmates under the age of 21.^[18]

Education

Browder passed the G.E.D. on his first try, soon after his release. He walked over an hour each way every day to his G.E.D. prep class.^[19] In an interview with Vice News, Prestia revealed that Browder was excited about his newly earned G.E.D.^[20] Browder then enrolled in the Bronx Community College (BCC), where he remained enrolled at the time of his death.^[21] He was part of the City University of New York's Future Now program, which offers a college education for previously incarcerated youths. He completed 11 credits and finished his semester with a grade point average of 3.562.^[22] Although Browder dropped out of community college after his fall semester due to a mental health relapse, he re-enrolled in the spring semester.^[23] On May 11, 2015, approximately a month before his death, Browder turned in a research paper to Professor Jillian Hess titled 'A Closer Look at Solitary Confinement in the United States'. He concludes his paper by writing:

"...solitary confinement should be looked at as a whole around the United States and even though changes toward the solitary confinement system have begun in some states, more needs to be done and addressed around the country. In a lot of jails and prisons there are a lot of living circumstances and practices that go on within that are not addressed that people need to shed light on like solitary confinement for example. Maybe another form of punishment or segregation should be implemented to deal with inmates who break jail rules as opposed to inmates who cause severe harm to other inmates and correction officers because the mental health risk it poses are too great."^[24]

Browder received an A on this assignment.^[25]

Employment

Browder's attorney, Prestia, mentioned that he worked at the community college, tutoring students for the G.E.D., having passed the test himself.^[26] Browder's brother, Akeem, later specified that he tutored students in math, specifically. Akeem mentioned how his brother "wanted to take care of his family, especially [their] mom. Kalief always wanted a job."^[27] Browder was also hired as a security guard, but later fired with little reason after one of his assignments was at the psychiatric ward in St. Barnabas Hospital, where he had been admitted after his release. Prestia connected Browder with a part-time flyer advertising job near Wall Street. Browder enjoyed being on Wall Street.^[7] In an interview, he said, "I see businessmen and businesswomen dressed in suits...I want to be successful, like them."^[6]

Advocacy and media presence

Jennifer Gonnerman of The New Yorker wrote an extensive profile of Browder and his case in an October 2014 issue.^[4]

In November 2014, Browder and Prestia appeared on The View to share his story with Rosie O'Donnell. On the show, he expressed that this was a "good opportunity to get [his] voice heard" but repeatedly said that it was hard to talk about the entirety of the experience all over again.^[28]

Jay Z arranged for a meeting with Browder after hearing about his story. Browder was private about his media presence and meeting celebrities and did not show the photo of them to anyone.^[29]

Suicide

On June 1, 2015, Prestia reached out to Browder via text message after seeing some bizarre Facebook posts. Browder replied, "Yea I'm alright. Thanks man."

On June 5, Browder told his mother, "Mom, I can't take it anymore." The next day, at 12:15 PM, Browder committed suicide by hanging himself. Gonnerman describes Browder's final moments from another visit to his family's home after his death: "At home in his second-floor bedroom, he ripped his bedsheet into long strips, which he twisted into a cord. In a nearby room, he removed an air conditioner from the wall, tied the homemade cord around his neck, and jumped out through the opening".^[30] Browder's mother, Venida Browder, only came to realize her son had hanged himself when she went to the backyard, having previously gone into the bedroom after hearing a loud noise upstairs.^[31]

Response to Browder's suicide

Activism

On June 11, 2015, New Yorkers congregated in Manhattan and Rikers Island in response to Browder's death. A vigil was held near the Manhattan Detention Center, with protesters, including his brother, Akeem, and mother, Venida, chanting "Justice for Kalief". The vigil lasted three hours. On Rikers Island, a concurrent vigil occurred with mourners holding signs that read "Black Lives Matter".^[32]

On June 27, 2015, dozens of protesters rallied peacefully on Rikers Island after organizing on Facebook under the event "March to shut down Rikers -- Justice for Kalief Browder! No to criminalization!". The Facebook event had 500 RSVPs. Protesters held signs with "Black Lives Matter" written on them as well as photographs and paintings of Browder. As reported by Twitter users, the New York Police Department and Department of Corrections brought force and police dogs to confront the protesters. Hashtags used to mobilize and publicize the protest included "#ResistRikers" and "#ShutDownRikers".^[33]

On August 10, 2015, 50 protesters gathered peacefully at the Bronx Supreme Court in remembrance of Browder led by his brother, Akeem. Protesters chanted "Black Lives Matter" on the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. These protests coincided with other protests in Texas and Oregon. There were no arrests made at this protest and an officer told Keegan Stephan, an activist who is part of NYC Shutdown, "I'm going to let you take the streets and protect you while you're out here".^[34]

Government officials

The conditions of his detention were widely seen as having caused 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, Davis v. Ayala (2015).^[35]

"There are indications of a new and growing awareness in the broader public of the subject of corrections and of solitary confinement in particular. See, e.g., Gonnerman, Before the Law, The New Yorker, Oct. 6, 2014, p. 26 (detailing multiyear solitary confinement of Kalief Browder, who was held—but never tried—for stealing a backpack); Schwirtz & Winerip, Man, Held at Rikers for 3 Years Without Trial, Kills Himself, N. Y. Times, June 9, 2015, p. A18. ...These are but a few examples of the expert scholarship that, along with continued attention from the legal community, no doubt will aid in the consideration of the many issues solitary confinement presents. And consideration of these issues is needed."^[36]

In July 2015, House of Representative, House Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee members John Conyers, Jr. and Sheila Jackson Lee sponsored and introduced bill H.R. 2875, Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2015 and three other bills aimed at youth incarceration reform. One of the bills in the package is H.R. 3155, The Effective and Humane Treatment of Youth Act of 2015 or Kalief's Law, named in honor of Browder. The bill contained many measures, such as banning solitary confinement for youth inmates, shackling and restraining youth for court appearances unless there is sufficient justification, and requires states to provide a speedy trial.^[37] It remains in the introduction phase of lawmaking, and was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.^[38]

On January 25, 2016, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to ban solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons, among other prison reforms.^[39] Penning an op-ed in The Washington Post, Obama cited Browder's case: "In 2013, Kalief was released, having never stood trial...He completed a successful semester at Bronx Community College. But life was a constant struggle to recover from the trauma of being locked up alone for 23 hours a day. One Saturday, he committed suicide at home. He was just 22 years old".^[40]

In October 2016, the New York City Correction Commissioner, Joseph Ponte, penned an op-ed in the Gotham Gazette stating that New York City will cease locking prisoners in solitary confinement if they are between 16 and 21 years of age. He wrote, "This is an unprecedented milestone in New York State correctional history and, even more important, across the nation. To date, no other city or state has accomplished comparable punitive-segregation reforms for the 19–21 year-old age group."^[41] Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "Today's announcement shows that New York City is leading the nation down a new path toward rehabilitation and safety. New Yorkers can be proud that their correctional facilities are pioneering these smarter, more humane approaches." This marked the implementation of the measure that New York City officials had originally voted on in January 2015.^[42]

On March 31, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to close down Riker's Island jail facility in the following statement: "New York City will close the Rikers Island jail facility. It will take many years. It will take many tough decisions. But it will happen."^{[43] [44]}

On April 10, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the 'Raise the Age' initiative, which would send a majority of cases involving 16 or 17-year-old defendants to Family Court or to be reviewed by judges with special training in social services. Prior to this, the state of New York tried 16 and 17-year-old defendants as adults. North Carolina remains the only state in the United States to continue this practice.^[45]

On May 25, 2017—which would have been Browder's 24th birthday—the corner of East 181 St. and Prospect Way in the Bronx was renamed Kalief Browder Way in his memory.^[46]

Media reaction

Ava DuVernay's 2016 Oscar-nominated documentary on race and mass incarceration, 13th, includes video interviews with Browder with permission from The Huffington Post.^[47]

In March 2017, a six-part television documentary series produced by Jay Z and Harvey Weinstein began airing on Spike, called TIME: The Kalief Browder Story. It was made in collaboration with the rest of the Browder family and includes prison footage, interviews with Browder after his release, and his interrogation videos. Interviews with social justice advocates, politicians, authors, and media personalities are also included.^[48]

Jay Z introduced the project to Weinstein, who later worked with Jay Z to pitch it to Spike. Remembering Browder, Jay Z said:

"I knew right there that [Kalief] was a prophet. Some of our prophets go with tragedy, Martin Luther King, it ends tragically. But what comes from it, the life, the next iteration, the lives saved, and how this young man has moved culture forward is incredible."^[49]

In an essay, John Legend articulated his thoughts a few days after Browder's death:

"New York failed Kalief. The list of things that went wrong in his case begins with his first encounter with the NYPD, whose practice of targeting black teens is well documented. The idea that being accused of stealing a backpack would lead to his arrest and detention would be absurd if it weren't actually tragic."^[50]

Mother's death

On October 14, 2016, Venida Browder passed away from complications due to a heart attack. Her surviving children were with her at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx at the time of her death. Prestia said, "In my opinion, she literally died of a broken heart" because the "stress from this crusade coupled with the strain of the pending lawsuits against the city and the pain from the death were too much for her to bear." Akeem Browder shared similar sentiments, saying, "My mother has been holding herself strong, but she's heartbroken."^[51]

Ongoing litigation

The lawsuit alleging the violation of Browder's rights under the Speedy Trial Clause of the U.S. Constitution continues on behalf of his family, despite his death.^[52] Browder's brother, Akeem, told BuzzFeed News: "We go back to court on March 21 [2017]. Judge is probably going to do what they've been doing — which is prolonging. It's a game that they play".^[53]

External links

• Remembering Kalief Browder a Year After his Suicide and Why Rikers Island Should be Shut Down at Innocence Project
• "Resources on Kalief Browder" from Stop Solitary for Kids
• "Violence Inside Rikers Island" - Browder's prison footage made public by The New Yorker
• 'A Closer Look at Solitary Confinement in the United States' by Kalief Browder, a research paper for a class at Bronx Community College

See also

• Solitary confinement in the United States

References