(Newswire.net — June 9, 2015) — New York – What’s the value of human’s life? Apparently, it depends. When 16-year-old Kalief Browder was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack and put in jail, his life and rights were not highly valued. Unable to come up with the $10,000 bail at the time of his arrest he was sent to the infamous Rikers Island prison in New York City.
He was offered a plea-deal on several occasions, however, he never wanted to confess the guilt for the crime. His trial was delayed, causing him to spend three long years, in Rikers where he was beaten and psychically tortured by both inmates and prison guards, the video posted by The New Yorker, who broke the story, revealed.
He was released in June 2013 with no explanation what so ever, the authorities just dismissed him.
“No apology, no nothing,” Browder told WABC in November 2013. “They just said, ‘Oh, case dismissed. Don’t worry about nothing.’ What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry about nothing?’ You just took over three years of my life!”
Unable to pick up with his life and tortured by the great unjust he had suffered, unsatisfied and alone, Browder, 22, ended his life at his family’s home in the Bronx, The New Yorker, reported.
After The New Yorker shared the story last year while Browder was still alive, no one really cared, but now that he’s gone, his life story ‘qualifies’ as news. Sad but true, Broeder’s acting in despair and taking his own life, started public outrage aimed at the US justice system.
Browder struggled with depression and attempted suicide several times both during and after his incarceration, according to The New Yorker. He spent time in the psychiatric wards of both St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and Harlem Hospital after his release.
The New Yorker released Rikers Island surveillance footage of two occasions on which Browder was beaten, once by the prison guards and a second time by a large group of inmates. Among other things, footage revealed how ineffective the prison system is at protecting an inmate when his life is in danger. Video showed that the riot suppression unit arrived too late to the scene and that tragedy was avoided by a pure luck.
According to The New Yorker, Browder’s case helped spark reform of the city’s criminal justice system.