the sleepers is a photographic work critiquing the prevalence of low-quality evidence in investigatory work, and its subsequent use by prosecutors to disproportionately target marginalised communities. The impetus for this project was learning about Kalief Browder’s story in early 2019.
Starting in 2010, Browder was subjected to three years of pretrial detention after allegedly stealing a backpack when he was 16 years old. After being accused on the street by the backpack’s owner two weeks after the alleged theft, he was arrested and, 74 days later, indicted on a single charge of second-degree robbery. With his family unable to pay the prohibitively high bail, he was transferred to Rikers Island to await trial. Over the course of his detainment, the state prosecutors pushed the trial date upwards of eight times, leading to Browder spending just over three years imprisoned, with two years of it in solitary confinement, before his release and dismissal of charges in 2013.
In 2015, Kalief Browder died from hanging. This was the last in a series of attempts that began while falsely imprisoned at Rikers. The link between his detention and the subsequent deterioration of his mental health is undeniable.
With this project I wanted to investigate the lower threshold of permissible evidence that was deployed against Browder and which continues to be used against individuals. This low bar, when combined with a predatory bail-bond system, systemic racism, and an overreliance on forensic technology, often leads to Black and Brown individuals being disproportionately arrested and wrongfully imprisoned.
