Children in New York can be jailed as adults and held in solitary confinement for years at a time. Dateline investigates the impact and asks if it?s effectively a life sentence. Courtesy: SBS/Dateline
New Yorkers protest last year against violence by correction officers and police as well as racial targeting. Picture: Dateline.
KALIEF Browder was just 16 years old when he was accused of stealing a backpack and arrested.
Sent to New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison, the teenager spent 1000 days behind bars, 800 of which were spent in isolation for a crime he didn’t even commit.
Following his release, he took his own life, leaving behind a grieving family searching for justice and answers.
His extraordinary story and how he came to be imprisoned in one of America’s toughest jails in the first place is explored on SBS Datelinetonight.
Journalist Meggie Palmer travels to New York where she meets with the Browder family and looks at a justice system failing juveniles, particularly those from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds who often can’t afford legal representation or bail.
New York is only one of two US states where it is legal to hold juveniles in detention without charge. Picture: Dateline.Source:SBS
Kalief’s brother Akeem told Palmer how his family were still suffering and say he experienced torture during his time in isolation.
“He was in a cage, and then not only are you isolated, but you have handcuffs and shackles,” he tells Dateline.
“So you’re an animal. It was meant as a torture tactic.”
Date line also reveals how Kalief was abused and bashed during his time there, both by inmates and allegedly guards.
Palmer told news.com.au that New York and North Carolina are the only two states in the US which still convicts and prosecutes children as adults.
She said it was ironic juveniles could be sent to a prison as notorious as Rikers which was so close to the glitz and glamour of Fifth Avenue.
Kalief’s brother Akeem Browder with SBS Dateline journalist Meggie Palmer. Picture: DatelineSource:SBS
“In these states, youths are automatically considered adults at age 16,” she said.
“In Kalief’s case, his family couldn’t afford the $3000 bail which is why he wasn’t released.
“If people can’t afford bail in New York they are sent to Rikers which is basically a holding jail.”
More than 15,000 prisoners are held at Rikers, known for its culture of violence. It also has one of the highest rates of solitary in the US.
“Kalief was held there for more than three years without charge,” she told news.com.au
“He had four birthdays there and 800 days were spent in solitary.”
She added it was unthinkable someone could spent so much time behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit let alone solitary.
CCTV footage shows other inmates attacking Kalief Browder while he was in Rikers. Picture: Dateline.Source:SBS
Palmer also said in Kalief’s case he went to jail a teen, but came out an adult who hadn’t been allowed to grow up properly.
“The family not only lost a son, but they lost faith in the system,” she said.
The Dateline journalistalso questioned Norman Seabrook from the NYC correction officers’ union on how solitary confinement, especially children, was ever justified.
“What do you do with an inmate who slashes the face of an inmate, or kills, maims another inmate, where do you put them?” he told Palmer.
She also asked him about his response to claims Rikers Island is described by many as a torture chamber.
“Only those who have a gripe or grievance, would describe it that ... it’s not an environment where we are hanging people by their toenails,” he said.
Akeem Browder and his family have been left shattered by what Kalief experienced behind bars. Picture: DatelineSource:SBS
FREEDOM AT A COST
Kalief’s charges were dismissed after three years after the prosecution failed to produce a witness to the crime.
Prosecutors delayed Kalief’s court case for the alleged backpack theft on more than 30 occasions, arguing they needed more time to produce evidence. They never could.
He was eventually released from Rikers Island in June 2013 but tragically took his life last year.
His brother feels he was robbed of his childhood and missed out on many life events including nieces and nephews being born, graduating high school and his prom.
“He missed out on a lot ... a lot happens in three years,” Akeem said.
His family claim his time in prison damaged him beyond repair and he was unable to cope with what he had been through.
“Kalief was damaged, he didn’t go there damaged, he was then damaged,” Akeem said.
“It was tragic my brother went through this ... he was innocent.”
The Rikers Island jail complex stands in New York with the Manhattan skyline in the background.Source:AP
YOUTH COURT
While Kalief’s case was overwhelmingly sad, Dateline also looked at programs aiming to reduce the number of youths going into jail, including a new youth court initiative held in Redhook, a suburb in the borough of Brooklyn.
The court, overseen by Judge Alex Calabrese, is run by youths for youths.
It is a real court with real consequences, with results enforceable by law.
Kareem Browder believes if Kalief had appeared in such a court, he never would have been sent to jail.
Initiatives such as this are attempting to break the cycle of youths getting into trouble as well as lowering reoffending rates, which hover at around 70 per cent.
A solitary confinement cell known all as “the bing” at New York’s Rikers Island jail.Source:AP
HOPE
The Browders are now suing the state of New York for $20 million for wrongful death.
Under 18s are no longer held in solitary and there are also plans to phase it out entirely for under 21s this year.
In the meantime Akeem Browder is part of a campaign to see Rikers closed down completely.
The campaign also has the backing of filmmaker and actor Quentin Tarantino.
The issue has even come under the spotlight of US President Barack Obama as well as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who have joined the call to shut it down.
Watch Meggie Palmer’s full report Unjust Justice on Dateline, Tuesday, 1 March at 9.30pm on SBS.
Continue the conversation @newscomHQ | @DatelineSBS | @MeggiePalmer
New Yorkers protest last year against violence by correction officers and police as well as racial targeting. Picture: Dateline.Source:SBS
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