Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20141001

Teaching about civil disobedience students and , teachers respond with acts of civil disobedience of their own. Classes have been canceled twice in Jefferson County as teachers stage mass sick out and students have walked out of classes. Then to Rikers Island prison in new york. The adolescence in rikers are walled off from the public. Theyre not walled off from the constitution. Indeed, most of these young men are pretrial detainees, presumed innocent until proven guilty. We will look at how a 16yearold High School Sophomore from the bronx ended up spending nearly three years locked up at Rikers Island after he was falsely accused of stealing a backpack. Even though he was never convicted, the team spent nearly 800 days that is about two years and solitary confinement. And we will look at how one county in mississippi is being sued for holding prisoners for nearly a year without formal charge or access to an attorney. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The u. S. Led Bombing Campaign in iraq and syria has seen its biggest day so far with british warplanes joining the attack. At least 24 strikes were launched between the two countries, where the Islamic State controls a vast stretch of territory. Britain took part in the strikes for the First Time Since its parliament voted to authorize the campaign on friday. The strikes today have hit towns including syrias ain alarab, which has come under sustained Islamic State assault thats forced tens of thousands of syrian kurds to flee. The white house has confirmed its relaxed standards aimed at preventing civilian deaths for the u. S. Airstrikes in iraq and syria. According to yahoo news, the Obama Administration has acknowledged that a policy announced last year calling for near certainty of no civilian casualties in drone strikes will not apply to the current bombing. The admission came in response to queries about a strike that killed up to a dozen civilians in the syrian village of kafr daryan last week. The bodies of women and children were reportedly pulled from the rubble after a missile hit a home for displaced residents. The United Nations meanwhile has issued a new warning over the dire humanitarian conditions in syria. Briefing the security council, emergency relief coordinator valerie amos said the World Food Programme will be forced to end its operations unless it can obtain additional funding. Millions are short of food, medicine, and ohms 3 million children are not in school. 11 million Vulnerable People inside syria require urgent human a train assistance, and of those, 6. 4 Million People are internally displaced. Without additional funds, the World Food Program will be forced to end its operations completely within two months. Russians have already been cut russians have already been cut in order to reach as many people as possible. Winter is fast approaching and vital supplies are needed to protect people from the cold. The taliban has carried out a suicide bombing onto the buses carrying soldiers in the Afghan Capital of kabul, killing seven people and wounding 21. The attack comes one day after the signing of a u. S. Afghan security pact that will keep 10,000 u. S. Troops in the country after this years formal and to combat operations. Missing ambassador James Cunningham a sign the agreement on tuesday. This agreement will enable United States to help the Security Forces to build on this progress after the Mission Comes to a close. As a new nato mission begins. Our close defense and Security Cooperation will provide the foundation for afghanistan to continue its Impressive Development and to build on the achievements of the past. Our agreement will contribute to stability that only in afghanistan, but throughout the region. And afghan president signed the accord after his predecessor , hamid karzai, refused to ratify it. Tens of thousands remain in the streets of hong kong in the fourth day of mass protest is common for greater political freedom. The demonstrations swelled over the weekend after a crackdown on students opposing chinas plan to select candidates in hong kongs 2017 elections. Protest leaders have vowed to remain and take over government buildings until the resignation of Hong Kong City leader in a free vote for his successor. Todays protest comes as china and hong kong observe national day, which marks the anniversary of chinas founding. Communist chinas founding. A patient who recently returned from liberia has been diagnosed the first case of ebola in the United States. The head of the centers for Disease Control announced the news on monday, one day after the patients admission to a dallas hospital. This individual left liberia on the 19th of september, arrived in the u. S. On the 20th of september, had no symptoms when departing liberia or. Ntering this country four or five days later around the 24th of september, he began to develop symptoms. On the 26th of september, initially sought care. Sunday, the 28th of september, was admitted to a hospital in texas and placed on isolation. We received in our laboratory today specimens from the individual, tested them and they ebola. Positive for the cdc says Family Members and others who made contact with the patient after he fell ill to be placed isolation to prevent wider infection. Passengers who traveled on the same u. S. Bound plane would not be at risk because the virus is only spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of the patient showing symptoms. He saidews conference, he believes this case will be contained. The bottom line here is that i have no doubt that we will control this importation or this case of ebola so it does not spread widely in this country. It is certainly possible that someone who had contact with this individual a Family Member or other individual could develop ebola in the coming weeks, but there is no we will my mind that stop it here. President obama has reportedly approved a plan that would that several thousand child refugees from Central America apply for asylum in the United States. The approach focuses on having the children apply from their home countries instead of making the dangerous trek to cross the u. S. Border. The plan does not increase the number of refugees allowed in, capping visas for latin america and caribbean at 4000. Oklahoma prison officials have released a new protocol for executions following aprils botched lethal injection of clayton rockets, which lasted 43 minutes. Media witnesses described him writing and moaning in apparent agony. He was injected with an untested cocktail of drugs which included a sedative also used in other prolonged executions, putting one that lasted two hours in arizona. The new protocol in oklahoma last the continued use of the drug that calls for a dose five times what locket received. Changes include more staff changing, contingency problems when problems arise, and the reduction of media witnesses at executions by more than half from 12 to five. Or damaging revelations have emerged about the secret service admits an uproar over an armed intruder who made it inside the white house. Secret Service Officials previously said omar gonzalez, former army sniper who was carrying a knife, was caught near the main entry. But it emerged this week he actually managed to run past a steroid of the first familys living quarters and through the east room before he was apprehended. The Washington Post reports the agent who caught gonzalez was off duty but happen to come across him after his breach. Secret Service Agents had also observed in solace around the white house and the hours before he jumped the fence. Appearing before secret Service Director apologized. It is clear our security plan was not properly executed. This is unacceptable and i take full responsibility and will make sure that it does not happen again. I am committed to the following complete and thorough investigation of the facts of this incident, complete thorough review of all policies, procedures, protocols in place that governed the security of the white house complex, and a response to this incident and based on the results of that review, accord needed informed effort to make any and all adjustments to include training and personnel actions that are necessary to properly ensure the safety and security of the president and the first family in the white house. Julia pierson came under repeated criticism throughout the hearing with several lawmakers calling for an independent investigation of the secret Services Competency to protect the president. The outcry Group Tuesday with news and Armed Security guard with a criminal record was allowed to ride in the same elevator as president obama in atlanta earlier this month, a major breech of protocol. President obama hosted in ukraine minister modi on tuesday for what house meeting. Secretarymet with state john kerry and other leaders. John kerry praised his massive reception before thousands in Madison Square garden on sunday. No matter how warm our welcome here today, were never going to be able to talk your rockstar reception at Madison Square garden. [applause] billy joel called me this morning to make sure he had not taken his regular gig there. None of us have been able to turn on a television or pick up a newspaper without seeing the celebrity coverage that the Prime Minister has received. And with it, for all of us, there is a sense of shared excitement and a sense of shared possibility. Prime minister modi also had a private dinner with president obama and a couple dozen people at the white house. Before his election as Prime Minister of india, modi was barred from the United States for many years over his role in 2002 antimuslim riots that left more than 1000 people dead. Modi was the chief minister where the killings occurred. He is never apologized or explained his actions at the time. Britishs acute ors have dropped a new terrorism case against a former guantanamo prisoner who spent three years in u. S. Custody without charge or trial. Held in seven months in britain for terrorism charges related to a trip he made to syria. He has said he has been harassed for investigating brushes british complicity in torture. Other today, his release was ordered after prosecutor said theres insufficient evidence to bring him to trial on terrorism charges. You can see our interviews with him at democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. On monday, two high schools outside of denver, colorado canceled classes after dozens of teachers called in sick in protest of the County School boards proposal to revamp their history curriculum. This is the second time in two weeks that teachers have staged what theyre calling a sick out, with 72 of 102 teachers at golden and jefferson high schools reporting absent on monday. Teachers are also protesting a paygrade system that ties their salaries to performance reviews. Last week, hundreds of denverarea High School Students walkout to voice their concerns over censorship of their history curriculum. They held cardboard signs with slogans like, dont make history a mystery and keep your politics out of my education. The protests began after the Jefferson County school board announced it was considering reviewing the curriculum of advanced placement history courses by adding more material to promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the freemarket system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. The proposal also calls for the removal of Course Materials that encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Newly elected School Board Member Julie Williams recently criticized how history is currently taught, saying it has an emphasis on race, gender, class, ethnicity, grievance and americanbashing while simultaneously omitting the most basic structural and philosophical elements considered essential to the understanding of American History for generations. Well, for more, we go now to denver, colorado where were joined by two guests. John ford is the president of the Jefferson County Education Association and a social studies teacher at moore middle school. And,ashlyn maher is a Chatfield High School senior and one of the students protesting the proposed curriculum changes. We also invited Jefferson County School Board Member Julie Williams to join us on our program, but did not receive a response. John ford and ashlyn maher, welcome to democracy now ashlyn maher, when did you get a sense that things were changing . I have been paying attention to the school board for the past year, and i have an increasingly more concerned about what has been going on. When i heard about the first teachers sick out, i realized more students who are interested in being involved in standing up for their education, so i took the incentive and just started educating people. I wanted to let them know what was going on. I started presenting unbiased information, posting on facebook , and talking to people in the hallway. Before we know it, we have a huge following. John ford, explain what is going on. Over the last 10 months, we had a School Board Majority that was elected into office. They were a conservative group that started to push a conservative agenda. Last week, two weeks ago when this proposal came out to create a Community Committee to censor certain parts of our curriculum, i think that is what hit the nerve. And not only hit a nerve with the educators in Jefferson County, buit really hit a nerve with our students, parents, and community as a whole. In this Julie Williams who is leading the charge on this issue in the school board, to your knowledge, what are her credentials for being able to analyze and dissect the problems of the American History ap curriculum . As far as i know, none. She released a statement saying she does not have the authority herself in the background and history to make those judgments, which is why she was creating the committee. But she also never released any statement said the people on the committee would have those qualifications. Speaking on msnbc, Jefferson County School Board Member julie you williams defended her changes to the curriculum. Im not saying lets not teach history accurately, what im saying is lets not encourage our children to disobey the law. Can you respond to that, ashlyn maher . Im not aware that i broke any laws. I think that i was standing up for what i believe in and that people in america have done it for centuries. It is the foundation of our country. I took ap u. S. History myself and all that were presented were the facts. I made the opinions based on those facts. I was never told what to think. These protests are entirely studentled in his what people think is right. John ford, while the students are involved in their protest, the teachers also have particular grievance in terms of policies of the school board. Could you talk about the concerns that led to the sickout of the teachers . It is aagain, i think culmination of things. We have a board majority that consistently over the last 10 secretivelyeen wasteful with taxpayer money and disrespectful to our community. We put all of those things together and then you put in this new committee to sanitize or purify curriculum, i think that is where the nerve was hit again. The ap,oncerned College Board from is a nationally recognized institution that goes throughout the United States in several different countries. And this one hurts kids. The teacher walkouts and the student protests and the parents concerns are all stemming from multiple issues. But what are specifically the teacher concerns that are being expressed in the sick outs . Back to the will go ap and the centering thing. Our the last 10 months, Teachers Association has been engaged in negotiations with the contract. Is somethingitself that has been a 45 year tradition in our School District and we have had a long history of collaboration with the school board and the superintendent. And that is all coming to an end. At the end of last year in may, we went into negotiations. They stalled out. We went to an independent factfinder. The factfinder his recommendations, we determined he determine the Teachers Association with agree with and we hope the School District would, too. The factfinder found in favor of the teachers and the school board rejected as recommendations i moved on with her own agenda. Unilaterally, instituted a salary scheme that is based on merit pay that is very, very confusing and to this day, i still dont think they know what is going on. Soon after the College Board issued its new guidance for its advanced placement u. S. History course, the Republican National committee condemned the new standards as radically re inventionist and antiamerican. The College Board has said it stands behind the Jefferson County student protesters. It has also warned that course can no longer officially bear it ap designation if school or district censors essential concepts from the ap course. Also speaking on msnbc last week, the president of the Jefferson County pta Michele Patterson voiced her concerns about academic censorship. This is not just about ap wouldy, this committee have the ability to look at all curriculum at any grade level and present it present to the board anything they find objectionable. Then the board would have the chance to look at their objections and take potential action. It really opens the door wide to censorship. That was the pta president Michele Patterson on msnbc. News, hostn Fox Gretchen Carlson criticized students and teachers in colorado protesting proposed changes to the history curriculum. And what does it say that our young people in this country and the teachers join the protest that are promoting patriotism is now a negative . Ironically, the new curriculum being proposed is all about promoting individual rights like protesting. The new curriculum would also teach a free market system, like the one we are ready have. It would also encourage there be no disregard for the law. Isnt that why we have laws on the books . , you are a high school senior. Can you respond . Well, i saw this interview. Further in the interview, she calls all of us little punks. Personally, i do not agree with what she is saying. I am saying that we are standing up for our individual rights and we want to make sure that we learn the facts patriotic or not. Everyone has made mistakes and we learned this mistakes as to not make them again in the future. Those who dont learn history, are doomed to repeat it. That is what were saying. Ask john ford, your reaction is a longtime teacher to the continuing efforts of some forces in this country to try to determine what you as teachers and educators can teach their students . Yeah, i think the frustrating part of this is, were professionals and classrooms who dedicate their entire lives to teaching kids. In this professionals know better i want to make this point. At a conversation with a math teacher a couple of months ago. She was distraught. I said, what is going on . She said, will this board majority is using my passion against me. I wake up every day with that ringing in my ears. The New York Times right writes the groups director wrote an oped that the boards election was an exciting and hopeful moment for the county and the School District. Are the Koch Brothers involved with this school board . I dont know. But what i do know, Jefferson County has a long tradition of being a collaborative Education Institution for the entire community. One thing i would like to point out, i was born and raised there. My kids go to these schools. Jefferson county is a community. That community really means something. To thee if you talk students, that is why they are reacting the way they are. If there are outside forces trying to push an agenda in our School District, that would be really concerning. You know what . Will find out. Groupre was this extreme that got control of the school board, that obviously means there was not a high level of participation in the School Board Elections. Could you talk about that in the dangerous when communities do not get involved in their School Board Elections . Yes, about 33 of the population of could vote, voted. Elections matter. Especially, School Board Elections. Lots of times we put focus on the National Level and maybe our state level elections, but our School Board Elections are going to be unbelievably critical in the next couple of years election cycles. Ashlyn maher, will you be voting in the next elections . I sure hope so. This issue does not stop. It does not stop affecting me when i graduate. Ive a little brother and a little sister that will grow up in the Jefferson Community and i want them to have the best education possible. I want them to be presented with the facts and just like i was. I dont think they should because someone elses opinion. Ashlyn maher, thank you for being with us, Chatfield High School senior, one of the students who is leading the protest over the proposed curriculum changes. And john ford, president of the Jefferson County Education Association and social studies teacher at moore middle school. When we come back from the break, an astonishing story about a 16yearold High School Sophomore who was accused of stealing a backpack. He wound up on Rikers Island in ,ail for close to three years two of those years in solitary confinement. You will find out his story. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Last week new york city announced it would stop using solitary confinement to punish adolescents held in its troubled Rikers Island jail complex, the secondlargest jail system in the country. But on tuesday a federal prosecutor said the citys reforms were moving too slow to address a culture of violence, and warned he may file a civil lawsuit over conditions for teenagers held in rikers. New york is one of only two states in nationwide that automatically charges 16 and 17yearolds as adults. Well, today we look at the incredible story of a 16yearold High School Sophomore who was jailed at Rikers Island for nearly 3 years after he refused to plead guilty to a crime he did not commit. It was may 15, 2010, when Kalief Browder was walking home from a party with his friends in the bronx, and he was stopped by police based on a tip that he had robbed someone weeks earlier. He told huff post live what happened next. They had searched me and the guy said at first that i robbed him and i did not have anything on me you say, no weapons, no property. I allegedlyes that robbed him for. So the guy changed up the story and said that i actually tried to rob him but another Police Officer came and they said that i robbed him two weeks prior, then they said, were going to take you to the precinct and most likely were going to let you go home. I never went home. Kalief browder never went home for 33 months, even though he was never convicted. For nearly 800 days of that time he was held in solitary confinement. He maintained his innocence and requested a trial, but was only offered plea deals while the trial was repeatedly delayed. Near the end of his time in jail, the judge offered to sentence him to time served if he entered a guilty plea, and told him he could face 15 years in prison if he was convicted. He refused to accept the deal, and was only released when the case was dismissed. Well for more, were joined by jennifer gonnerman, reporter, author and contributing editor at new york magazine. She recounts Kalief Browders story in the Current Issue of the new yorker, in a piece headlined, before the law a boy was accused of taking a backpack. The courts took the next three years of his life. Jennifer gonnerman has long chronicled problems with the criminal Justice System. Her book, life on the outside the prison odyssey of elaine bartlett, tells the story of a woman who spent 16 years in prison for a firsttime offense under new yorks rockefeller drug laws. And were joined by browders current attorney, paul prestia, who has filed a lawsuit against the city, the nypd, the bronx district attorney, and the department of correction, on browders behalf. Prestia is also a former assistant prosecutor in brooklyn. Jennifer gonnerman, paul prestia, welcome both of you to democracy now jennifer, tell us kaliefs story. You did a good job of setting it up. It was great we got to hear his voice describing what happened. May 2010, coming home from a party late one night in the bronx with his friend down the street. A police car pulls up, somebody in the back seat that point some out saying accusing them of a robbery that happened one or two weeks earlier. He says, i did not do it. Did notcome he says, i still anything tonight, look at my pockets. And they went back and said, oh, this happened a couple of weeks ago. From the beginning it sounded like some confusion about the dates, release the way kalief tells a story. He goes into a precinct, a holding cell thinking, they will clear this up. He ended up doing almost three years on Rikers Island. The system completely filled him in every possible way. There wasto trial. He was locked up in the adolescent jail on Rikers Island. Ask explain. Will we talk about Rikers Island, there are 10 different jails there. I think people get diffused between prison and jail. A jealous were you go while waiting for your case to go to the court. On Rikers Island, 85 of those locked up or legally innocent. They have not been convicted of a crime yet and may never be convicted of a crime. See what their fate is going to be. Kalief was one of those people. Despite he was not convicted, he endured punishment anyway. He ended up basically at rikers because he could not make bail. Theres a relatively minor charge. The judge ended up giving him bail time but releasing his codefendant . Of the the beginning case, the were two codefendants. His friend was released from day one so he got to wait at home while the case went through the system. At 3000bill was set because he was sorry on probation at a prior case. That market against him, chased him for the next three years. Ultimately, they filed a violation of probation against him which meant he was remandate. Even though bill was 3000, is out of the reach of his family. Spent time fund raising, ultimately, did not matter because he was remanded. There was no theyll set for three years no bail set while this case crawled through the system. On the parking bush and, that was on a prior conviction, that was youthful conviction. While he was convicted, he was 16 at the time and that conviction was sealed from his record. Not something that should have been used against him, but perhaps an anomaly because he was on probation at the same time. Pointedvent, as jen out, i would have titled her piece which was excellent and i spoke with her indepth watch was writing the article. I would have titled it the criminal Justice System he constructed. I can go through all of those aspects with you, but i know i want to ask you about this whole issue of people ring held in jail in reference to pressure them to plead out. We often see the criminal Justice System on television as these dramatic trials. I have always felt the essence of the criminal Justice System in america, 95 of the cases, our plea bargains. People being pressured not to go to trial, but to lead guilty. If you could talk about how that is used over and over again to get defendants to plead out. I dont know if it is a tactic per se, something intentional that the district technique office a the District Attorneys Office uses and you were prosecutor. I was. Im familiar with all of these things. I know how they go, for sure. But i think it is understood it is commonne sense. If someone is in jail and theyre desperate to get out, theyre more inclined to take a plea. It is just human nature to do anything, to find anyway to get out of that jail, specially if you have spent some time in solitary. That is what is so amazing about kalief. When the bronx judge is replaced by a brooklyn judge and she begins to see what he is been through and says, he will be out today, after 2. 5 years, just plea. Go toce 15 years if you trial. And he said, no. The other prisoners said, are you crazy . This is a kid. He said, im innocent and im not quite as there was guilty. The longer you are incarcerated in joe, the greater the pressure to plead. For someone like kalief was in the adolescent jail in Rikers Island. U. S. Attorneys office recently put out a blistering report about the horrific conditions, a top of that houston last of his time in solitary can im. At ratchets up the pressure more and more. He could not have been under greater pressure to plead and this type that he said, im all right, i did not do it. Im all right. The judge says come you all right . He said, like a preface, i can do this. He said, i want to go to trial. His thinking had been saying for years. Trials really happened in the bronx. That is one of the dirty secrets of the whole system. Whats one of the most interesting part of the article is the continuous is listed that occurred in this trial. Fromhe is waiting for you june 23 2011, people not ready. Request one. That one week turns into the factory. August 20 4, 2011. It will not ready for request one day. November 4, 2011, people not really. Prosecutor on trial request two weeks. The december 2, 2011, prosecutor on trial, read west generally third. So each time it was the prosecutor who were delaying the start of a trial. Flex that is true. Once they ask for a week or two weeks, it would turn into a matter of scheduling. Maybe the prosecutor cant do it or the judge can do it or the defense attorney can. Askecame a the just game. It became a logistics game. That is six more weeks see has to wait. What about the role of his prior attorney . You are not there from the beginning. No, lets make that clear. You try to find out what the attorney did or did not do. He was a courtappointed lawyer, paid 75 nor to represent kalief. Is beensystem that criticized over the years because in order to make a living, you have to have a lot of cases. Those lawyers are running around the city all the time. He never visited client on Rikers Island. Never visited . That means he never visited his client because he was on Rikers Island all the time. As sad as it is, that is not uncommon. It is like half a day nightmare. Their video conferences in the bronx we can talk to your client facetoface. I asked him had he done that he said, pretty sure i did. I asked kalief if you remember having a videoconference with his lawyer and he said, no. What about a speedy trial . There might be a lot of people watching this around the country and around the world, saying wasnt the law broken that this kid from when he was 16 years old was in prison and two of those years in solitary . You cant even wrap your brain around it, it is so crazy. So the sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial. In new york, were something called the ready rule. Say, wese prosecutors are ready, but we can be ready in a week, so that is one week charged against them. Yet the next court date is set one month, two months, three months away. That only counts as one week against the sixmonth deadline we have in new york. Even though he was held for three years, it is not like there are three years counted against him. His every week or two weeks are one day. Time is moving into separate ways. The world of the courthouse where time is moving at a glacial pace and police life for every day feels like 10 because he is trapped in a box on Rikers Island in solitary. It stops and starts dropped the case. Agreed, with jennifers legal analysis, the adjournments were appalling and should have been challenged at some point, in my opinion, by the attorney and should not have been allowed to persist by the judges who oversaw the case. Kalief lets bring kaliefs voice back into the conversation. He said while he was in solitary confinement at rikers, the guards often refused to give him his meals. If you could say anything that would take them off, some of them, a lot of them, what they do is they starve you. They wont feed you. Youreeally hard because still hungry because i guess that is part of the punishment. If they starve you one try, that can really make an impact on you. How much were you starved . A lot. I cant even count. Kalief browder went on to say he was once starved four times in a row with no breakfast, lunch, dinner or breakfast again. Talk about the conditions of solitary confinement and how a kid, a teenager, would end up in solitary confinement for two years. About being talking hungry in jail. Even though hes talking about one instance, in fact, there is a broader problem. When youre in solitary confinement, you get three meals a day coming through a slot in the door because you dont leave your cell. For teenagers locked in solitary , and others have talked about this, there is not enough food. Once youre in solitary, in general population in regular jail, youre not getting enough food, maybe think its a money, syria count and get some snacks. And his mom did put money. Yes, and visited him every week. He is reduced to begging officers through the cell door, can i get a next her piece of bread . Sometimes they give up and sometimes they laugh at him. There is a stretch of 12 hours worth teenagers are Drinking Water out of the sink to fill their stomachs. At first i thought maybe it was just him or one off thing. He was talking about meals being skipped. Im saying it is a broader problem. Theres a recent report that came up from bronx defenders organization with a talked to many of theirs clients with similar complaints. For a moment i thought, did we just pick up this get off the streets and the bronx and drop them in guantanamo . This is the kind of things you guys cover all the time. It seems unbelievable. What about the whole issue of his education . Here was a 16yearold sophomore. Supportd of educational does rikers give to 16 and 17yearolds . The adolescents in the regular jail were supposed to be taken every day to class, to a school they have their. They are taught by the department of education. Once a kid was put into solitary , they were not being taken up for school anymore. They would slip a worksheet under the door in the morning and say, finish this by wednesday or thursday. Kalief is sitting there things, i might as well try to do this. Trying to teach himself how to be a better writer, math, etc. And nobodyay comes comes to pick up the work. That did not always happen, but it happened often enough. It is a small detail, but it just shows the utter apathy and lack of concern for everybody in there. So he is banging on the door, where is the correction officer to pick up the work . He is trying to improve himself and is absolutely nightmare of a place. Just a reckless disregard for any of those kids who sat in solitary. It is sad, really. Paul prestia, the reaction of the prosecutors in the case, especially when you got involved . Didnt anybody say, hey, this is a kid who is been in jail for close to three years and still has not been brought to trial . I mr. Question. The reaction of the prosecutors who were dealing with. I did not actually deal with the prosecutors because i took over the case after he got just missed. Came to see me and retain me to represent him in the civil case. Against the state of new york. In august, the us attorney criticized them for using extreme violence against adolescent prisoners. Often in areas. Video surveillance cameras. It condemned the excessive use of solitary confinement for teenagers held there. This is the u. S. Attorney. Rikers island is a broken institution for adolescence. Broken institution will produce broken people, especially when they are young and fragile with Mental Illness as so many of them are. The adolescents in rikers are walled off from the public, but they are not walled off from the constitution. Indeed, most of these mnr pretrial detainees, presumed innocent until proven guilty. Whether theyre pretrial or convicted, they are entitled to be detained is safely and in accordance with the constitutional rights, not confined to corrections crucible that seems more inspired by lord of the flies than any legitimate philosophy of humane attention. The u. S. Attorney speaking in august. Last week he said new york city failedill de blasio had and warned his office was ready to file a civil rights lawsuit against the city to force changes. He could conceivably be a possibility for attorney general. This report came out in the course of me reporting the story, came out in august. Back in april when i was first interviewing kalief, i think the first time im at him, he joined this incredible story that happened early at a time at aters a few days in immolate night, some sort of fight in the dorm and officers were issue in one room. Officers grabbed whoever they could find, threw them in the hall and faces to the wall and started trying to figure out who did it and yelling and smacking them in the face each time, really beating up some of the kids. This incredible story of leaky noses and swollen eyes. At the end the officers say, ok, we can either take you to the clinic and if you tell the folks who work at the clinic what happened, youre going to end up in solitary. Or you can go back to bed and pretend nothing happens. So kalief and the other kids go back to bed. Doubt him i did not but i thought, is that a one time thing . Under the conditions were very bad, but that is a level of brutality that is pretty hard to wrap your mind around. In august this report comes out, and i would urge anyone to read this report. This report is incredible at the level of graphic detail in the way it is written. Is specific to the years 20112013, coincidentally, when kalief was incarcerated and was in solitary confinement. This story is told again and again in this report. Listen, another corrections officers, their jobs can be difficult. Own code ofe your justice, which is what happens in these jails, and to mete out punishments to these kids come these young men, who are, as jennifer pointed out, they are innocent. They are awaiting a trial. They are waiting for the case to be heard. Would those jails i argue, in my opinion, in the prosecutors mines presumed healthy. Kalief attempted suicide. Yeah, that happened several times and it is totally understandable. Considering the conditions. Hopefully, this will change, but there was a lot of teenagers put into solitary the way they were dealing with unruly population. It was honest and addiction to solitary confinement. A studysolitary am after study shows the incredible impact on ones Mental Health. You can have inmates going and who did not have any Mental Health problems coming out of broken problem. The paranoia, lack of trust, being overwhelmed by stimulation. Out, youief has been can still see the impact of solitary even though he is been home for 16 months. At times his brother was telling me he was going to the movies, did he want to go out and kalief would rather retreat and be in his room at home with the door closed, almost recreating the conditions of solitary and feels more couple like that sometimes than out in the world. Ive spent a lot of time with kalief. Quite honestly, i dont see how he could ever be the same after that it area. What are you hoping with a lawsuit to be able took on flesh accomplish in terms of changes . We need the city to take accountability, to admit that what happened here was unjust, unlawful, unconstitutional, and it was wrong. And it was. Nothing they can say can justify Kalief Browders ordeal. The police cannot justify it, corrections cannot justify it. The District Attorneys Office cannot justify it. In my opinion. Theres no way. Ive gone to everything in this case from the arrest where you whose credibility is highly at issue he had gone back to mexico, you learned, the very and. No, no, not at the very end. Do you believe he disappeared at the beginning . I suspect it was long before the date of the dismissal. That is why they kept asking for delays. Right, of course. Because if you was available, amy, you could of them brought in lets say the case was first on for trial in december 2010. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, hugh could have been brought in much sooner sometime in 2011, the very least. All the had to do in this trial was bring this victim in and testify to what happened. The problem here is, kalief was innocent. He was always innocent. They arrested him based on this victim whose credibility was clearly at issue, without any other evidence to go forward on this case, case that never should have been prosecuted. And then, to add insult to injury, he has to spend those three years in rikers. The ironic thing i know you have to continue the accused him of stealing a backpack. Day, they end of the stole Kalief Browders innocence. We will leave it there. I thank you for being with us, paul prestia and jennifer gonnerman. You got to read her latest story entitled, before the law. Onwill have a link democracynow. Org. We will be back in a minute. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. We end todays show with a look at another case of prisoners held in jail indefinitely, this time in mississippi. The American Civil Liberties has filed a federal lawsuit against scott county, which is about 25 miles from the capital of jackson, over allegations that it has held prisoners for nearly a year without formal charge or access to an attorney. The two plaintiffs named in the case are octavious burks, held for more than 10 months without formal charge, and joshua bassett, held for eight months. Burks was arrested for Armed Robbery, and basset for grand larceny and possession of methamphetamine. Overall, the aclu estimates at least 50 people are being held in the scott county in a similar situation no indictment and no access to a lawyer. For more were joined by brandon buskey, staff attorney with the criminal law reform project at the aclu and lead attorney on the case in scott county, mississippi. Welcome to democracy now we have been investigating the situation in mississippi throughout the state for roughly a year and a half. We knew coming in there was a serious problem with the right to counsel throughout the state. And also that individuals, even before they are formally charged with a crime, faced an indefinite amount of time in jail because the state places no limit on the amount of time an individual may be in jail before the prosecutor has to bring a formal indictment. So making contact throughout the state and talking to public defenders, talking to judges, talking to civil rights lawyers, we were able to establish a fairly decent network. And it so happened about two months ago, we received a call concerning octavious burks, the individual you just showed on the screen. It was from his family. They were completely desperate in seeking help, trying to understand what was happening with their son. He had been in jail since november of last year on attempted Armed Robbery charge. Very serious charge. However, he wanted his day in court and wanted a lawyer, but at scott county, he was not been provided with either of those. They reached out to us and wanted to know why he had not been assigned an attorney and why it had taken so long even to bring a formal charge. And if you was going to be charged at all in the case. So we began looking into it and seekingisits, documents. We found out basically the standing policy in scott county, like in so many other places that mississippi, is not to assign an individual an attorney until they have been indicted. Here in new york city, for example, that may not be a big help because the state prosecutor has only six days from the time of arrest to bring an indictment. However, in scott county, they only have the grand jury only issues indictments about three times per year. If youre simply arrested during period of the year, youre waiting three to five months to even find out of if the state intends to proceed against you. Octavious burks inoctavious burkss case, the state had missed several indictment dates in his case and that is why he had been lent washington jail since november. Once we found that out about his case, once we looked further into the situation in the scott county jail and found there were dozens of other people who were facing a very similar situation, we decided we had to take action. Clocks and all these years, there never been a challenge in the federal courts about the due process situations . Know, there had not. This is one of the things that were seeking to establish your, basic fundamental rights that have not been pressed in the courts an answer by the supreme court. How typical the scott county . I fear scott county is fairly typical. Ive talked with robert defenders and others throughout the state and the story is very consistent. Ive had other defenders tell me that until you are indicted on a case, i dont know you exist. Theresew york times a wonderful piece about the situation. The senior circuit judge, who is named in this lawsuit is said, well, i had never heard of these cases. I cant do anything about this case until it gets in my court. So the judge who oversees the entire core system. I think that attitude pervades the entire state. However, i want to point out this is not something a problem for mississippi. It is a problem nationwide and the aclu has been looking at these cases throughout the country in states like new york, utah, pennsylvania. The problem is pervasive. We will certainly continue to follow this, brank buskey, staff attorney with the criminal law reform project at the aclu, lead attorney on the scott county, mississippi case. That does it for the show. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]