Kalief Browder was only 16 when he was imprisoned without conviction and forced to await his trial on Rikers Island for three years. He spent two of those years isolated in the mental anguish of solitary confinement. Browder's crime was not murder, rape, drugs, or arson, he allegedly stole a backpack.

When Browder was released in 2013, he faced the overwhelming hardships of assimilating back into a society that had almost literally locked him up and thrown away the key. Browder was plagued by the emotional and physical scars three unlawful years in prison had given him. Last June, the pain became too much to bare and Browder took his own life.

A year after Browder’s suicide, former Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral joined Boston Public Radio to remember Browder and the impact of his story.

“I think his story has resonated... it is absolutely so tragic,” said Cabral. After reading and listening to interviews with Browder, Cabral was struck by how well spoken and intelligent he was. “He could have done great things,” she said. Browder’s death will not be in vain in though. His story and suicide shine a spotlight on the necessity of prison reform. “This certainly adds in a very substantial way, to the chorus of voices who are advocating for reform,” said Cabral. “It is also about changing culture and environment . I say this as a former sheriff, that is not an easy thing to do,” she said.

Browder’s death has also brought an awareness to the horrors of solitary confinement. “There is much more scrutiny about the state of solitary confinement,” said Cabral. The laws on how long a prisoner can be put in solitary confinement are decided by the state, leaving no federal regulation on what can quickly become a torturous practice. Soon after Browder's suicide, President Obama said that the prison system should rethink the use of solitary confinement as a long term solution.  "There is an absence of a Supreme Court decision that rules on the constitutionality of solitary confinement itself," said Cabral. In order for any decision to be made, there has to be a major spark that ignites the court's interest. "Generally speaking, it has to shock the conscience of the court," said Cabral