WATCH: Modern Slavery in America

This Salon Talks Video was produced by Alexandra Clinton
You may recall the high-profile case of a young New Yorker named Kalief Browder.

Kalief was 16 in 2010 when he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack and imprisoned without conviction — with frequent stays in solitary confinement — for three years at New York’s Rikers Island Correctional Center.

Not long after his release, Kalief committed suicide at age 22.

A new documentary series currently airing on Spike TV highlights how the system and the city failed Kalief. To properly dissect his story I am joined by “Time: The Kalief Browder Story” filmmakers Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby-Nason. During a Salon Talks conversation, Furst and Willoughby-Nason tell me about spending the last two years digging deep into the criminal justice system in New York City — from crooked cops and correctional officers to the toxic living conditions thousands of inmates are subjected to and the many reasons why places like Rikers Island should be closed down.