One week ago I finished “TIME: The Kalief Browder Story.” Kalief’s story changed me. In this article, I will (try) to explain how a young African-American student who spent three years on Rikers Island without ever being convicted of a crime solidified my understanding of the criminal justice system in America.

First, if you have not watched the series (on Spike or Netflix), here is the short version. Browder was a 16-year old high school student from the Bronx walking home from a party when he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. He spent an unthinkable three years in jail awaiting trial, and two of those years in solitary confinement. The case never went to trial and the charges were ultimately dropped. After his release from Rikers Island, he took his own life (from Spike’s press center). I implore you to read and watch.

A Personal Journey

Over the last few years, I’ve read and listened to many different leaders speak on the issues within the criminal justice system. More than that, I started listening to non-white people speak about criminal justice—as much as possible without judgment and trying to seek for understanding.

“America’s criminal justice system is not that bad,” I would say to myself. Sure any system is messy, but it is better than a lot of places in the world. Over the last three years, my mindset has been slowly changing seeing the many ways that our criminal justice system is in need of repair—and not just a few little tweaks. There are massive issues that need to be addressed.

Here is a brief list of material that was impactful, I leave it for your consideration.

A Brief List of Resources

This doesn’t account social media posts that have pointed me towards great material or the countless discussions with other brothers and sisters face-to-face. This helps explain the timing of watching Kalief’s story and the impact on my life at the moment.

• Serial & Undisclosed, stories about the wrongfully convicted (2015)
• Race & Civil Justice – An Inside Perspective, Coram Deo Podcast, Kyle Howard (Feb 2016)
• Is Black Lives Matter the New Civil Rights Movement? Mika Edmondson (June 2016)
• Various Articles, Reformed African American Network (Mid 2016)
• Various Articles, Kyle J. Howard’s Blog (Late 2016)
• 13th (film), (Late 2016)
• Locked In: the true causes of mass incarceration—and how to achieve real reform [Amazon], John Pfaff (March 2017)
• Strong and Weak [Amazon], Andy Crouch, discusses the leadership and power dynamic (Early 2017)
• Pass the Mic Podcast (Early 2017)
• Miss Buchanan’s Period of Adjustment, Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell (June 2017)

That brings us to last week as I finished Kalief’s story which solidified my newfound understanding of the criminal justice system. For the sake of clarity, I thought it best to organize my thoughts as reflections. 

Reflections on Kalief’s Story

Humanity: if Kalief matters, his whole story matters

We would like to make certain stories fit within our perfect narratives of life. The problem is we are feeble and live in a feeble world. There is nothing simple and there is nothing easy. Kalief was not perfect, but who is? Does this mean that we stop listening to his story because he was imperfect?

Kids do stupid things. That is why we call them kids. I did really stupid things when I was 16 years old, things that I would not go on record to discuss. That’s why it is shocking that a 16-year-old kid was held at one of the worst prisons in the country, for allegedly doing something stupid. Mind you, he was never prosecuted or convicted. He is innocent but jailed until proven innocent (more on this below).

Moreover, a young man killed himself. As a Christian, I should grieve for the loss of life. I should grieve for Kalief who decided there was no other way out besides death. Have I become so cold that I would gloss over his death? We are talking about another human being with dignity, and we need to listen to his story even if we have to listen from the grave.

The System is Broken—Jail until proven innocent 

Why did a 16-year-old kid spend 1,117 in jail for a crime he did not commit? There is something just plain wrong about that fact. The entire time Kalief was in prison he believed that the criminal justice system would work because he was innocent. He never took a plea deal—which could have released him immediately.

“Justice failed him, but he still believed in justice,” Vendia, his mother, said. “It’s a whole system that destroyed my son, and I want them all to pay.”

Don’t believe that the system failed? Take a look at a few of these stats: 

• Number of court dates: 28
• Number of appearances before the court: 15
• Number of Corrections failed to produce him before the court: 8
• Number of District Attorney of New York City representatives who handled his case: 16
• Number of times the DA stated he was not ready for trial: 14
• After accusing Browder, the man returned to Mexico and the case was dropped. The New York City District Attorney’s office noted: “Without the Complainant, we are unable to meet our burden of proof at trial.”

This doesn’t sound like a perfectly oiled machine, it sounds like it needs serious reform. Let me put another way, would you like to spend 1,117 in jail for a crime that you did not commit? I did not think so. 

Solitary Confinement is a Living Hell

First, this series documents the horrors of solitary confinement, and Kalief spent more than 2/3 of his time in solitary. The horrors of solitary totally and completely fit with a biblical worldview, because humans are made for relationships and it will drive you mad to not have them. Just as it did for Kalief. He was in solitary for 700-800 days during his time at Rikers.

Some will claim that it was because he was “getting in fights”—which was because he didn’t want to play the prison game. Another will claim that it was for his protection—a protection that would ultimately drive him mad.  As a result, my Christian worldview must question the way we prosecute and treat juveniles in the criminal justice system. Solitary confinement is not the right way.

I am thankful for President Obama’s action to remedy this situation:

We rejoice, momentarily, but the problem is not over. This is only federal prison reform and doesn’t touch state and local prison practices. Moreover, it will take time, money, influence to persuade prisons to limit solitary confinement.

Secondarily, how do we keep innocent people out of jail? It doesn’t make sense that Kalief spent over 1100 days in prison for a crime he didn’t commit; doesn’t sound like justice to me. Thus, what needs to change in order to keep innocent people out of prison.  

Oh, bail! That’s the way we will keep the innocent out of jail.  

The Plight of the Poor: Making Bail 

“$3000 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but when you don’t have it you just don’t have it,” said Venida. This line in the series stood out in my mind. When you don’t have the money you don’t have the money. Sadly, this means that more innocent, poor people spend time in prison for crimes they did not commit. If you don’t see a problem with this, you probably never been poor or felt the weight of being poor.

Being interviewed about the series, Director Jenner Furst said, “The sad part is that many people view this as a liberal, progressive issue. It isn’t. There are countless folks in America who are white, who live in disenfranchised areas of this nation, who are suffering through the criminal justice system, and they need this reform, too. Because it doesn’t just prey on people of color—it preys on people who are poor, and it eats them alive.”

Final Questions

Do I take time to understand someone else’s perspective?

It is easiest to live life with my own understanding, it is a lot harder to seek to understand other people. However, if I am to call myself a Christ follower, I must seek to understand, show empathy, be humble, and learn.

Would I stand up and say something?

Everyone likes to stand up and say, “well if I lived during the time of the holocaust I would have stood up for what was right.” I remember learning in grade school about the horrors of the Holocaust and leaning over to a friend and told him that I would have never let it happen. To be honest, I would have been just another one in the crowd, not saying anything. I am now praying for courage. 

What if Kalief was my son?

I’d fight for my life to get my kid out of jail, especially if there was no evidence against him and he was claiming his innocence. But a reality hit me while watching Kalief’s story, a reality which I have known but chose to overlook, (1) I’m white, and (2) I have the money to make bail. In America’s criminal justice system, that puts me two steps ahead.

I wanted to turn it off. I wanted to look away. I wanted to believe that this was not possible in our justice system. I desired to go on about life without thinking about it. I tried to block it out, but I could not go on as normal. Like two more colors added to my vision and I started noticing the differences.

Kalief Browder’s story is not his story, it is our story. All Americans are responsible. I am responsible.