Friday, October 21, 2016
Kalief Browder's Mother Paid a Cost Far Higher Than His Bail
Three thousand dollars.
The price of a cheap used car, a decent college scholarship, or maybe a round-trip international flight. Or, in one sad case, the lives of a falsely accused 22-year-old man and his grieving 63-year-old mother.
Kalief Browder served three torturous years in prison without being convicted of a crime, and died by suicide two years after he was finally released. Last Friday his mother, Venida, who was fighting for the system to pay for what it did to her son, fell victim to it herself. All because they couldn’t raise the $3,000 bond...