Kalief Browder

Kalief Browder was an African American youth from The Bronx, New York, who was held at the Rikers Island jail complex, without trial, between 2010 and 2013 for allegedly stealing a backpack containing valuables. During his imprisonment, Browder was kept in solitary confinement for 700 days.
Two years after his release, Browder hanged himself at his parents' home. His case has been cited by activists campaigning for reform of the New York City criminal justice system and has attracted widespread attention in the years following his death. In 2017, Jay-Z produced a television documentary mini-series titled Time: The Kalief Browder Story. In January 2019, New York City settled a civil lawsuit with the Browder family for $3.3 million.

Early life

At birth, Browder was placed into the care of Child Protective Services due to his mother's drug addiction. He was the youngest of seven biological siblings and one of the five placed for adoption. Browder's adoptive mother, Venida Browder, had raised thirty-four children by 2015 via fostering and adoption. The family lived in a two-story brick house on Prospect Avenue near the Bronx Zoo.
Browder attended the New Day Academy in the Bronx, where staff described him as a very smart and "fun guy".
In 2009, Browder was charged with third-degree grand larceny. Police testified that he had crashed a stolen bakery truck into a stationary car while joyriding. At the age of 16, he was charged as an adult, as per the state law at the time. He pleaded guilty, but later said he was only a bystander. Browder was registered as a youthful offender and placed on probation.

Arrest

On May 15, 2010, police arrested Browder and a friend on Arthur Avenue near East 186th Street in the Belmont section of the Bronx. Browder said he was returning home from a party and believed the stop was a routine stop-and-frisk, which he had previously experienced.
Police were responding to a 911 call from Roberto Bautista, who reported a stolen backpack containing valuables. From the back seat of a police car, Bautista identified Browder and his friend as the thieves, although he gave conflicting dates for the incident and varied in other details of his account. Officers searched Browder but did not find the backpack.
Browder denied involvement and questioned why he was being charged. He and his friend were taken to the 48th Precinct police station, fingerprinted, and held before being transferred to Bronx County Criminal Court for central booking.
Seventeen hours later, Browder was interrogated by a police officer and a prosecutor. The following day he was charged with robbery, grand larceny, and assault. At arraignment, the charge was listed as second-degree robbery, and bail was set at $3,000. With a bail bondsman, $900 would have been required.
Browder’s family could not raise the amount. A neighbor offered to lend money, but the bail bondsman explained that Browder’s probation officer had placed a violation hold, which prevented release regardless of bail. He was taken to Rikers Island to await trial and resolution of the probation matter.

Imprisonment

Browder was jailed at the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island. Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the RNDC had a "deep-seated culture of violence", in which inmates suffered "broken jaws, broken orbital bones, broken noses, long bone fractures, and lacerations requiring stitches".
Browder said inmates washed their clothes with soap and a metal bucket, causing rust stains on the clothes. Browder's mother began visiting him weekly and provided him with clean clothes and snack money. To avoid becoming a target of the inmates, he slept on top of his belongings, including his bucket. Browder said he felt pressure to gain physical strength to defend himself. He said, "Every here and there I did a couple of pullups or pushups. When I went in there, that's when I decided I wanted to get big."
Browder was a victim of carceral violence. On one occasion, he and other inmates were lined up against a wall. Correction Officers wanted to find the instigator of a fight. Browder and the inmates were punched, one by one. He said, "Their noses were leaking, their faces were bloody, their eyes were swollen". The guards threatened the inmates with solitary confinement if they reported their injuries.
On October 20, 2010, a gang member spat in Browder's face. Later in the day, Browder punched the gang leader and was set upon by fifteen gang members. On September 23, 2012, a video was recorded showing Browder in handcuffs being assaulted by guards. After a fight with an inmate, Browder was put in solitary confinement for two weeks. He later said of the other inmate, "He was throwing shoes at people. I told him to stop. I took his sneaker and I threw it, and he got mad. He swung at me, and we started fighting."
Altogether, Browder spent nearly two years in solitary confinement, mostly after fights with inmates. Browder later said that while in solitary confinement, correction officers beat him when he was showering. He said a verbal confrontation with a guard would escalate into a physical altercation. During his time in solitary confinement, Browder was allowed to participate in activities such as reading. He also studied for the General Educational Development examination.

Trial

Brendan O'Meara was appointed as Browder's public defender. Browder consistently maintained his innocence. Although assistant district attorney Peter Kennedy described it as a "relatively straightforward case", the trial was repeatedly delayed because of a backlog at the Bronx County District Attorney's office.
In July 2010, seventy-four days after his arrest, Browder appeared before a judge at the Bronx County Hall of Justice. A grand jury indicted him on a charge of second-degree robbery. A second charge, alleging that he punched and pushed Bautista, was also heard. Browder pleaded not guilty. His family contacted a bail bondsman, but bail was denied because of his prior probation violation.
On December 10, 2010, a potential trial date was set after both sides submitted notices of readiness. On January 28, 2011, 258 days after his arrest, Browder appeared in court again. The prosecution requested a deferment. His record later showed multiple adjournments in 2011, with prosecutors repeatedly stating they were not ready to proceed.
Browder’s communication with O'Meara was mostly through his mother. O'Meara recalled that Browder was "quiet, respectful" and not rude, but that he appeared "tougher and bigger" over time. Browder told his attorney he wanted to go to trial. He declined plea offers of 3.5 years and later 2.5 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
In 2012, further adjournments were recorded as prosecutors again reported they were not ready. By then, Browder had appeared before eight judges. He later said, "These guys are just playing with my case."
On March 13, 2013, Browder appeared before Bronx judge Patricia DiMango. She offered him immediate release if he admitted guilt to two misdemeanors, with time served. Browder refused and was returned to Rikers.
On May 29, 2013, prosecutors revealed that Bautista had returned to Mexico and could not testify. After failing to contact his brother, they informed DiMango that they were no longer able to proceed and sought dismissal. DiMango ordered Browder’s release. He left Rikers the following day, and the charges were formally dropped a week later.

Legal action

After his release, Browder and his brother Akeem sought legal representation. A family member found the Brooklyn civil rights attorney Paul V. Prestia. In 2011, Prestia had represented a Haitian man who had been arrested in the Bronx and was wrongfully jailed for eight days.
In November 2013, Browder filed a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department, the Bronx District Attorney, and the Department of Corrections. Prestia claimed that there had been a malicious prosecution, and the court had been misled about the prosecution's readiness for trial. Prestia also put to the court that the prosecution knew they would have no witness when Bautista returned to Mexico. The City of New York denied these allegations.

Education and employment

Soon after his release, Browder passed the GED examination and later enrolled at the Bronx Community College. He participated in the City University of New York's "Future Now" program, which offered a college education to previously incarcerated youths. Browder completed 11 credits and finished his semester with a grade point average of 3.56.
Because of depression, Browder did not attend college in the fall semester but re-enrolled in the spring. On May 11, 2015, Browder submitted a paper titled "A Closer Look at Solitary Confinement in the United States", for which he received an "A" grade. He wrote:

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 is too great.

Browder worked at the B.C.C. as a tutor in mathematics for the GED. He wanted to work to support his mother. He worked for a while as a security guard but was dismissed when his history of mental illness came to light. He also handed out flyers near Wall Street. Browder said, "I see businessmen and businesswomen dressed in suits ... I want to be successful, like them".