Kalief Browder

In January 2019, New York City settled a civil lawsuit with the Browder family for $ 3.3 million.

Two years after his release, Browder died by suicide at his mother's home. His supporters allege his death was the result of the mental, physical and sexual abuse he sustained in prison. 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 and Harvey Weinstein 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.

After his death, Browder's estate continued his legal action against the City. Akeem Browder 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."

In 2017, de Blasio said, "New York City will close the Rikers Island jail facility." The New York City Council subsequently voted in October 2019 to close the Rikers Island prisons and other New York City jails by 2026.

On April 10, 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the "Raise the Age" initiative that would send most cases involving 16-and-17-year-old defendants to the Family Court or be reviewed by judges with special training in social services.

In March 2017, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, a six-part television documentary series produced by Jay Z and Harvey Weinstein, was broadcast on the Spike television network. Jay Z said,

On May 25, 2017, the corner of East 181st Street and Prospect Avenue in the Bronx was renamed "Kalief Browder Way" in his memory.

On October 14, 2016, Browder's mother Venida Browder died of complications of a heart attack. 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 thoughts, saying, "My mother has been holding herself strong, but she's heartbroken".

On January 25, 2016, President Barack Obama signed an executive order to ban the solitary confinement of juveniles in federal prisons. Obama wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post, in which he cited Browder's case, writing, "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."

In October 2016, the New York City Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte wrote an op-ed in the Gotham Gazette stating that New York City will cease locking prisoners between the ages of 19 and 21 in solitary confinement. 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." 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 voted on in January 2015.

Ava DuVernay's 2016 Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, about race and mass incarceration, includes video interviews with Browder.

At birth, Browder was placed into the care of Child Protective Services due to his mother's drug addiction. Browder was the youngest of seven biological siblings, and one of the five who were given up for adoption. Browder's adoptive mother, Venida Browder, had raised thirty-four children by 2015, including fostered children, adopted children, and her biological children. The family lived in a two-story brick house on Prospect Avenue near the Bronx Zoo.

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". He wrote:

In November 2013, Browder made another suicide attempt and was admitted to the psychiatric ward of St. Barnabas Hospital, the first of three admissions to the ward. On June 6, 2015, at 12:15 p.m., Browder hanged himself from an air conditioning unit outside his bedroom window at his mother's home. His mother discovered his body.

On June 11, 2015, mourners mounted a three-hour vigil near Manhattan Detention Center, and chanted "Justice for Kalief". A concurrent vigil was held on Rikers Island. People held up signs reading "Black Lives Matter".

On June 27, 2015, an event on Rikers Island was organized through Facebook under the banner, "March to shut down Rikers—Justice for Kalief Browder! No to criminalization!" and the hashtags "#resist Rikers" and "#Shutdown Rikers". The event gained 500 Facebook responses. At the event, protesters held signs bearing the slogan "Black Lives Matter", and photographs and paintings of Browder.

On August 10, 2015, the anniversary of the shooting death of Michael Brown, fifty peaceful protesters led by Kalief's brother Akeem Browder gathered at the Bronx Supreme Court and chanted "Black Lives Matter".

In 2015, in Davis v. Ayala, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy cited Browder's case. He said:

In July 2015, the 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, the "Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2015", and three other bills aimed at reforming youth incarceration. One of the bills in the package was 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 the banning of solitary confinement for youth inmates, the prohibition of shackling and restraining of youth for court appearances without sufficient justification, and a requirement for states to provide a speedy trial. It entered the introductory phase of lawmaking, and was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

In 2014, Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, took action against the City of New York for its use of "unnecessary and excessive force" on adolescents in Rikers Island. In January 2015, the New York City Council voted unanimously to end solitary confinement for inmates younger than 21.

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, for example, Gonnerman, "Before the Law", The New Yorker, October 6, 2014, p. 26 (detailing the multiyear solitary confinement of Kalief Browder, who was held—but never tried—for stealing a backpack); Schwirtz and Winerip, "Man held at Rikers for 3 years without trial, kills himself" New York 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."

In the October 2014 issue of The New Yorker, Jennifer Gonnerman wrote an article about Browder. In November the same year, Browder and Prestia appeared on television talk show The View; Browder said his appearance on the show was a "good opportunity to get [his] voice heard" and that it was difficult to speak about his experience in prison. Rapper and businessman Jay Z also contacted Browder.

On March 13, 2013, Browder appeared before Bronx judge DiMango. She offered Browder a plea bargain of immediate release for his admission of guilt to two misdemeanors with consideration of time already served. Browder refused the offer and was returned to prison. On May 29, 2013, DiMango freed Browder in anticipation of the dismissal of the charges against him one week hence. Bautista had returned to Mexico and could not give testimony against Browder.

Browder's communication with O'Meara was mostly through Browder's mother. O'Meara said Browder was "quiet, respectful, he wasn't rude", but he appeared "tougher and bigger" over time. Browder told O'Meara that he wanted to go to trial; he was offered a plea bargain of 3.5 years in prison if he pleaded guilty. In June 2012, this period was reduced to 2.5 years. Browder declined the plea bargain.

On June 29, 2012, Browder's record showed; "the People not ready, request one week; September 28, 2012, the People not ready, request two weeks; November 2, 2012, the People not ready, request one week; December 14, 2012, the People not ready, request one week." After 961 days in prison, Browder had appeared before eight judges; he later said, "these guys are just playing with my case".

While incarcerated in 2010, Browder made his first suicide attempt. He tried a second time on February 8, 2012, trying to hang himself using strips of sheet tied to a ceiling light in the cell. Browder later said the COs goaded him to commit suicide. On another occasion, after an appearance before a judge, Browder made a sharp implement from the bucket in his cell and started to slit his wrists. An officer intervened.

After his release, Browder and his brother Akeem sought legal representation. A family member found the Brooklyn prosecutor Paul V. Prestia. In 2011, Prestia had represented a Haitian man who had been arrested in the Bronx and was wrongfully imprisoned 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.

On May 15, 2010, police apprehended Browder and a friend on Arthur Avenue near East 186th Street in the Belmont section of the Bronx. Browder said he was going home from a party. He thought the police were carrying out a routine stop-and-frisk, a police procedure he had undergone on a number of occasions.

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 actually took his sneaker and I threw it, and he got mad. He swung on me, and we started fighting."

In July 2010, seventy-four days after his arrest, Browder was brought before a judge at Bronx County Hall of Justice. The grand jury indicted him on a charge of second-degree robbery. A second charge of punching and pushing Bautista was heard. Browder pleaded "not guilty"; his family went to a local bail bondsman about the new charge, but the posting of bail was denied because of Browder's prior violation of his probation.

On December 10, 2010, a potential trial date was set after prosecution and defense had submitted notices of readiness. On January 28, 2011, 258 days after his arrest, Browder appeared in court. The prosecution requested a deferment of proceedings. On June 23, 2011, Browder's record showed: "the People not ready, request one week; August 24, 2011, the People not ready, request one day; November 4, 2011, the People not ready, prosecutor on trial, request two weeks; and December 2, 2011, prosecutor on trial, request January 3, 2012."

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, which conformed to 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.

Kalief Browder (May 25, 1993 – June 6, 2015) was an African American man from the Bronx, New York. Browder is known for having been held at the Rikers Island jail complex, without trial, for allegedly stealing a backpack, between 2010 and 2013 when he was unable to make bail; he was in solitary confinement for two of these years. He was released when the prosecutor's case was found to be lacking evidence against him and the main witness had left the United States.

Browder asked the officers why he was being charged and said, "I didn't do anything". A police officer told Browder he would be taken to the precinct and would likely be allowed to go home. Browder and his friend were taken to the 48th Precinct police station, where they were fingerprinted and kept in a holding cell for a few hours. They were taken to the Bronx County Criminal Court, where they were processed at the court's central booking.