16 year old thrown in NYC prison for 3 years for no reason

[bedstuy]

Part of the problem is that we underfund and understaff the courts so that there is little chance of a speedy trial unless one cops a plea deal.

There's an insane backlog at the Bronx criminal court.  It's pretty insane because they aren't saving any money by keeping someone at Rikers for 3 years pending a trial.

Unfortunately, we live in a world of budget cuts.  Nobody really cares when the cuts hurt poor back people.  So, in New York the thinking is that you make sure the pain is felt among these poor black communities and not on the more politically powerful white voters. 

[bedstuy]

Hopefully he'll be set for life after this.  Sue the bastards for everything they've got.

I think he may not be able to sue the government at all.  There may not be a damage remedy for the denial of a right to a speedy trial.  Plus, New York can probably invoke sovereign immunity so they would have to waive that to allow a suit.

[bedstuy]

Hopefully he'll be set for life after this.  Sue the bastards for everything they've got.

I think he may not be able to sue the government at all.  There may not be a damage remedy for the denial of a right to a speedy trial.  Plus, New York can probably invoke sovereign immunity so they would have to waive that to allow a suit.

I don't know New York law, and I assume you're more educated on this than I, but that sounds odd to me.  I think it's pretty clear what happened to the man goes in violation of federal law if not state law, so wouldn't someone have to take the fall for this?

At the very least I can see a class-action lawsuit come out of this even if those seldom go very far.

Just because there was a violation of his Constitutional rights doesn't mean he can get a damage remedy in a lawsuit.  A state is generally immune from that type of lawsuit.  Perhaps there's some type of 1983 suit that could be brought against a state official, but here that might be a judge.  That seems like it would never work.

[bedstuy]

Right to speedy trial and a lot of states have procedural rules which can be waived. Constitutional protections too can be waived. 

I feel like there's some more to the story for this to take 3 years. Unless there was some real malfeasance. Which is possible. 

The Bronx Supreme Court has a huge backlog.  There are a ton of reason for it.  The DA's office is dysfunctional.  The judges are under-qualified and inefficient.  There aren't enough public defenders.  And, just generally, the Bronx is the redheaded step-child of NYC.  It's largely Hispanic, black and low-income so there is an over-abundance of crime and an under-abundance of political clout to get the situation fixed.