Episode 9: 'You Just Sit There and Wait for the Next Day to Come'

Caught

WNYC Studios

Politics, Society & Culture, Documentary, News, True Crime

4.9 • 747 Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2018

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rikers Island has ended the traditional use of solitary confinement for juveniles. New York State banned it more broadly, but only for juveniles that have already been sentenced. In many counties, pre-trial juvenile offenders are still put in solitary. In this episode, WNYC teams up with The Marshall Project to investigate how widespread the practice remains. We also learn about the lasting impacts of being put in solitary, from a teenager named Imani, who spent over a month in solitary after she was accused of shoplifting. Finally, we go upstate with Z's mom to hear how he's doing. Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice is supported, in part, by the Anne Levy Fund, Margaret Neubart Foundation, the John and Gwen Smart Family Foundation, and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Listener supported WNYC Studios.
0:07.0	You miss everything, everything about being home to fresh air, your family, certain events. You want to be home.
0:16.0	Khalif Browder, it's one of the names in the roll call, of black lives taken by the criminal justice system.
0:24.6	He was arrested in New York City at age 16 because someone accused him of stealing a backpack, a backpack.
0:31.3	One witness, and he spent three years at Rikers waiting for a trial because he couldn't pay his bail and he refused to take a plea.
0:39.6	Both inmates and guards abused Khalifa at Rikers. He spit nearly two years in solitary.
0:45.1	And in solitary confinement, they control your food and when it's time for feeding. So if you say
0:50.4	anything that could tick them off in any type of way, a lot of them, they won't feed you.
0:55.4	And it's already hard in there because if you get the three trays that you get every day, you're still hungry.
1:00.8	If they starve in one trade, that could really make an impact.
1:04.6	We don't now lack for evidence that this is horrific.
1:08.1	Dwayne Betts is the poet and lawyer who's been with me throughout this podcast.
1:12.4	He says solitary confinement is so dangerous for young people like Khalif
1:16.8	that the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
1:20.4	recommends any kid held for more than 24 hours should get immediate evaluation.
1:26.1	It's so bad that the UN expert on torture is called for absolute prohibition of solid
1:32.7	circumfirmament.
1:34.2	I mean, practice is just basically considered around the world inhumane, cruel, and degrading.
1:40.0	Khalif Browder tried to kill himself several times while in solitary.
1:45.4	Guards responded by beating him.
1:47.3	He did finally get out of Rikers.
1:51.3	The prosecutor dropped the case because they lost touch with the single witness.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -2514 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.