Wrongful Conviction In Kalief Browder's Before The Law

Similarly, Kalief Browder lost a portion of his life in jail due to wrongful conviction. As mentioned in “Before The Law” an article published in The New Yorker, Browder was a 16 year old boy walking down the streets of the Bronx with a friend when he was approached by police officers, “An officer said that a man had just reported that they had robbed him.” Both Browder and his friend were taken down to the precinct and then to booking where his friend was let go, but he wasn’t. Since Browder had been on probation at the time the judge held him with a bail set at three thousand dollars, being charged with robbery, grand larceny, and assault. Seeing that the bail was was too expensive for his family to pay, Browder was sent to Rikers Island where he would spend 3 years awaiting a trial for a crime he didn’t commit. Browder was never convicted and was kept in the jail

When he did try to commit suicide he was actually punished, the COs would let him starve, rather than get him mental health. Finally, after three years with no conviction or trial Browder was offered a deal; confess and be let free. Although that seemed like the obvious choice to any person who wanted to be free, he refused to take the fault for a crime he did not commit. Because he refused to confess and the police had no real evidence Browder was let go. Browder seemed to be putting his life back together he earned his GED and started community college, but still struggled with life after Rikers Island. Being back home made him very anxious and was very paranoid about being attacked. On June 6, 2015, after struggling with anxiety and mental health issues Kalief Browder took his own life. Rikers caused him such greatly trauma that he couldn’t live inside his body. Browder’s case has now become a symbol of everything that is wrong with the American Criminal Justice