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The documentary, “Kids Locked in Solitary Confinement” depicts the toll that solitary confinement can have on the juvenile population. Approximately, 27% of adolescents in Riskers Island are in solitary confinement. The majority of which have not yet been convicted of a crime. However, these juveniles are in jail because they cannot afford to post bail. Supporters of solitary confinement believe that the segregation juveniles experience is not equivalent to the segregation in the federal system.
Kalief Browder was only 16 when he was sent to Rikers Island, one of the cruelest juvenile prisons in the nation, for being accused of stealing a backpack but with no evidence to support. He spent around two years in solitary confinement which drove him to attempt suicide many times. He was abused every day by inmates and prison guards for no reason at all. In his three years he was waiting for a trial which should not have taken longer than six months to complete. His mother spoke out to the public, waiting for his justice to be repaid every day and for her sons return.
Kalief Browder is an African American male born in the Bronx, that went to prison for a crime for the robbery of a book bag, a crime he did not commit. He ended up spending 3 years in prison. Two of the years were in solitary
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.
Unable to make bail, Mr. Browder languished in Riker’s Island for 3 years –never receiving a trial. After those 3 long years – filled with abuse from inmates and guards alike, after nearly 800 days of solitary confinement, after over 30 hearings, and after numerous postponements, the charges against Mr. Browder would be dropped and
There is no doubt that Kalief Browder needs some type of justice, especially for his family and friends. Kalief Browder was just a 16 year old in the Bronx that was wrongfully accused of a stealing a backpack while he was on probation for a previous petty crime. Therefore, he arrested and when he got the amount of bail he quickly found out that he and his family could not pay for it. After not being able to pay for bail, he was sent to a federal prison named Rikers Island for this petty crime, in which he was never charged with. He was sent to a federal juvenile correction center with a bunch of actual criminals that did more than just be accused of stealing a backpack.
When the case was presented to a judge, he set a $3000 bail for Browder and released his friend upon trial. Due to his families socio-economic status they were unable to post bail or afford an attorney. Browder was sent to Rikers and confined in the Robert N Davoren Center for male adolescents. Eventually, Browder was given a court appointed attorney to defend his case. While waiting for trial he attempted to adapt to the transition from a normal teenager to an incarcerated juvenile delinquent.
Solitary confinement, in my opinion, is cruel and unusual punishment. If there was not a mental-health crisis in America, and there was in fact a rehabilitation-focused prison system, solitary confinement would be greatly reduced and used much more sparingly. What is the point of driving people to madness by putting them in isolation? It would be so much cheaper for tax payers to change the system to a more effective one that actually reduces
Within juvenile detention facilities, staff place children in isolation for varying periods of time, ranging from hours to months. The reasons staff place children in solitary confinement cells vary widely from one facility to the next, and even from one staff to another at the same facility. Employees often place a youth in isolation because it is the easiest and fastest way to ensure facility security. Some rationales for the practice are: safety, security, disciplinary, administrative, protective and medical. Using this method to control a youth’s behavior or for a disciplinary reason is very common.
How would I feel if I were in solitary confinement for 15 years? It is almost guaranteed to affect my physical, mental as well as my social health throughout the years. I will have no contact with other people, I will be fed poorly and unable to function as a normal human being. Solitary confinement for fifteen years would have negative affects on my physical, mental and social health.
After reading the article, I do agree that juveniles should be segregate from the adult prison for protection. However, I don 't agree with the solitary confinement and being restrained in small spaces. Most of these juvenile offenders have nonviolent criminal charges. Solitary confinement can cause all kinds of mental and psychological problems for juveniles. There have been cases where juveniles committ suicide while in adult prison because they have experienced physical abuse, mistreatment by staff members and long stays in solitary confinement.
The Documentary 13th by Ava DuVernay examined the United States prison system, which looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America. This documentary shows the relationship between African American men and the prison system and how it is corrupt. The documentary gives an example of one instance when an African American boy was discriminated against. Kalief Browder was a teen African American boy who was held at the Rikers Island jail complex, without trial, between 2010 and 2013 for allegedly stealing a backpack containing valuables. He was in solitary confinement for over 700 days.
Solitary confinement began as a standard punishment of the penitentiary system in the United States in the nineteenth century. It was a response to the philosophical transformation influenced by the Enlightenment, that sought to distance punishment from brutality (Cloud, Drucker, Browne, & Parsons, 2015). The penitentiary system was developed as a more humane alternative to the torture and executions that were happening in England (Cloud et al., 2015). Instead of having corporal and capital punishment, such as public hangings and whippings, individuals were confined to their own cells (Guenther, 2013). Supporters, such as the Quakers, believed that this confinement would force the individuals to confront their own conscience, and they would
Visitors wishing to visit an inmate will be turned away if wearing sheer, mesh, netted (fish net style) or see thru clothing, Sleeveless or spaghetti straps or tank top attire, Coats, hats,
Open conditions and contact with the outside world The social isolation that results from imprisonment cannot be alleviated solely by treatment programmes within penal institutions. The most obvious means of maintaining prisoners ' contact with society atlarge is to preserve any social relationships they may have had before incarceration or to build up new ones inasmuch as that is possible. ** The United Nations has recognized the need for prisoners to keep their contact with the outside world. According to rule 37 of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, "prisoners shall be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate with their family and reputable friends at regular intervals, both by correspondence and by receiving visits".
