I shared a cell with a Black man who had waived his right to a speedy trial under law enforcement pressure and had subsequently been in pretrial confinement, in

I shared a cell with a Black man who had waived his right to a speedy trial under law enforcement pressure and had subsequently been in pretrial confinement, in county jail, for eight and a half years. On a minor gun charge. Nobody cares. That’s what it is, not that Americans are bad. It’s the natural outcome of jail being where bad people go and tough on crime policy. Even the lawyers who try to reverse this stuff pro bono are shunned by their peers and looked at as uncouth “activist” attorneys. The man had converted to Islam and was as upbeat as could be expected about it but told me, quite frankly, that he fully expected to die inside with no disposition in his case. He accepted that. I think about him often and how the system failed him.