Kalief Browder (1993-2015), an American student, was arrested in 2010 at age 16 for stealing a backpack. He spent three years at Rikers Island, New York’s main prison – without ever having been found guilty. He spent over a thousand days in prison, over 700 in solitary confinement.

In the US Constitution, the Sixth Amendment states:
“the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial”
But in the Bronx, Browder’s part of New York, there are not enough judges or money to carry out the Constitution.
About 96% of those accused of a felony in the Bronx plead guilty in exchange for a shorter sentence. There is no trial. Those who maintain their innocence – and whose families’s cannot afford bail or who are held without bail – are sent to prison where they can wait up to five years.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: abagond.wordpress.com