Kalief Browder began his three-year stay in New York's Rikers Island as a 16-year-old—which included nearly two years in solitary confinement—after being accused of stealing a backpack. He never received a trial. Browder was eventually released, got his G.E.D., and enrolled in community college, but he was troubled after spending so much of his formative years alone in a cell. This past weekend, he committed suicide.
Last year, after New York City officials finally decided to stop putting 16- and 17-year-olds in solitary confinement, Pacific Standard rounded up some of the science in support of the decision. We talked about how new neuroscience technology, such as MRIs, has revealed to researchers that adolescent brains are undergoing even more dramatic—and longer-lasting—development than previously thought. The experiences teens have during this crucial time could affect them through adulthood. The United States legal system has taken this research to mean that juveniles and adults should be sentenced differently.
[For more of this story, written by Francie Diep, go to http://www.psmag.com/politics-...nd-the-teenage-brain]
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