
As a former mental health chief at New York City’s Rikers Island, I watch TV crime dramas with special interest, especially when the action switches to Rikers. No crime series includes the notorious lockup more often than the enduring Law & Order. While this popular TV series makes for satisfying entertainment, and even better PR for our vaunted system, I am always struck by the vast difference between these shows and real life. In each Law & Order episode, tenacious cops track leads and leave no stone unturned as they hunt down perpetrators of crimes, both minor and heinous. After the suspects are arrested, those who cannot make bail are frequently held on Rikers Island, where they await their day in court. And as the barred gate slams shut, the police work is finished. Dun-Dun. The judicial process takes over, assuring us that the detainee sitting in that jail cell is innocent until proven guilty. He will have his day in court, by gosh, his constitutional right. If he cannot afford legal counsel, the court will appoint a lawyer. Attorneys in crisp suits will then spend sleepless nights preparing for trial. Prosecutors will stop at nothing to prove guilt, while defense lawyers use every ounce of their legal acumen trying to prove otherwise. When the fateful day arrives, which it does very quickly, consistent with “right to a speedy trial,” the courtroom drama unfolds, and by the end of the show, the verdict is read – Guilty, or Not Guilty. Justice is served. The TV gets flicked off with the knowledge that the guilty will be punished, the innocent exonerated, and that our criminal justice system is in fine working order!

Yet in real life, an entirely different process unfolds. Having worked closely with the people sitting in those cells on Rikers, awaiting their promised day in court, the biggest difference is that unlike Law & Order, where arrest is followed by trial, in reality, only a handful of the Rikers detainees will ever go to trial. Roughly speaking, for every hundred thousand felony arrests in any given year, the capacity of courtrooms, lawyers and judges is for approximately 3,000 of these cases to be tried. The bottleneck to get to trial is so badly backlogged that there is no such thing as a “speedy trial.” If Law & Order was to run true to form, then after an alleged perpetrator is arrested and shipped to Rikers, the TV audience would have to mark their calendars for at least three years later to find out what happens next.
And what does happen to the real-life detainee while he waits? Most likely, a plea deal is offered by the district attorney’s office, and the defense lawyer will push the detainee to accept it. Unlike the determined defense attorneys of TV lore, the overworked public defender has no interest in trial strategies, tracking leads, and nailing down expert witnesses. Legal consultations are hurried affairs in court bullpens. If the detainee agrees to the offered deal, he foregoes his day in court, and accepts some measure of guilt. The tradeoff is a lighter sentence than if convicted at trial. Whether guilty or innocent, most succumb to the plea bargain so as to move things along — and get the hell off Rikers Island. And if the detainee refuses the deal, he must survive years in jail. He might get jumped, endure beatings by guards, or perhaps be thrown into solitary confinement for some minor jailhouse infraction.
These things happened to many of the “presumed innocent” that I worked with, and that I encouraged to hold out for trial. All of these things happened to Kalief Browder, the young man whose tragic plight on Rikers was so thoroughly detailed in the media. Arrested for swiping a backpack, he vehemently denied it, and because he could not afford bail, waited three long years for his “speedy trial.” But after his release, he emerged as a broken person who couldn’t put the horror of Rikers behind him, and committed suicide. Tragically, Kalief’s ordeal is not unique. Thousands assert their innocence, but will never see their case unfold the way it does on Law & Order. Most will grab the plea deal, not because they’re guilty, but because they must survive.

Law & Order is an enjoyable series, viewed by millions. The only danger in this innocent entertainment is when it masks the horrible truth, and people start believing this is how the system actually works.
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Mary E. Buser received her Master's degree from Columbia University, where she was the recipient of the Overbrook Award, in recognition of outstanding clinical and academic achievement. Prior to Rikers Island, she was co-founder and first director of the Samaritans of New York, a suicide prevention hotline.
How can we break the logjam?
Great article! While I’m aware the speed of justice on TV cop shows is unrealistically faster than in real life, I didn’t realize just how truly slow our real system is. Three years waiting for your day in court? No wonder so many take plea deals.
On a side note, I’m willing to suspend belief when it comes to certain matters on TV like the speed of trials and investigations, but things like a CSI team carrying guns and busting in on suspects are tough to swallow.
I love shows like L&O and take for granted that they use some literary license in how the justice system works. After all, they only have an hour from crime to conviction.
Literary license is pretty much endemic on TV dramas, and is especially noticeable in legal and medical shows.
Read the excerpt. This story definitely has my attention. Looking forward to the opportunity of reading this book. Thanks for this giveaway!
nice–very interesting read
This book would hold my interest.
I have long held the prejudice that criminals deserve what they get. I also have a fascination with prisons and jails that some think is weird, but I don’t think it’s weird at all. Overall this looks like an interesting book.
I love Law & Order and I know this would be an exciting read
sounds like an exciting read.
Bshaw75015@aol.com
Your article is an eye-opener.
I have watched Law and Order over the years and would like to read this book.
I would really appreciate this book!
I’d love to read this.
This sounds like a good book for making people think about real life versus movies.
awesome
looking good
I’d love to give this a read 🙂
This would be interesting to read!
This sounds like it would be a great read and I would love to win it
Thanks so much for the chance 🙂
sounds great sign me up
sound like one i’d like
I enjoy the Law & Order shows…knowing what really goes on in “real life” sounds like an enjoyable read
Sounds like an excellent read
Sounds really great. I have worked in courts and this is of interest to me. Thx.
Sounds interesting.
Make me a winner!!
Sounds like a terrific read!
thanks for this chance! sounds good
Would love to win!
would love to win the book
Thanks again.
Sounds like a great book and loved Law & Order great writing also.
Hope I win; thanks for the chance!
Looks like a good book, can’t wait to read it.
This sounds like a very nice and exciting book. I would love to read this.
This looks great
I would like to read the work of Mary E. Buser.
I would really like to read this.
Would love to read! Thanks for the chance!
Sounds like an interesting read, thank you for the opportunity.
What a heartbreaking, and broken, system we have – no way should we call it ‘justice’.
L&O, CSI – I’m a junkie.
Fact v. Fiction would make for a very interesting and enlightening read. (Too bad this is the case.)
We really need a new type of court and a new type of jail to contend with cases like stolen backpacks and other minot infractions…then one would not have to spend all that time in a big jail and come out a changed person.
With all the wonderful modern technology, there should be a way that first time offenders who proclaim their innocence could be released on their own recognizance unless there is unassailable evidence against them. Some kind of tracking device or something.
This looks really interesting.
Yes, please enter me in this sweepstakes.
Thanks!
This book would be a hot commodity in our family of Law and Order fans (and cops). Thanks for the chance to enter.
I’m a great fan of the Law and Order series. I always enjoy watching the reruns on tv. 🙂
Not only is the process not lie TV shows, that is not what I thought it would look like AT ALL! Not spooky enough.
I watch lots of crime dramas, Law and Order, CSI, Perry Mason, and so on, and I know they are fiction. The time is just too compressed to be believed. I’m mostly there for the conflict and resolution, just like I am with all the crime, mystery and thriller books I read.
Very interesting indeed. I would enjoy this book.
would love to have this, thanks
Thanks for the chance to win.
wow-waiting three years for his speedy trial sounds like a great book
New topic for me! I think I would enjoy reading about Rikers.
Fascinating article. I know when I watch Law & Order that it isn’t realistic, but I still enjoy it.
Hope to win a copy of Lockdown on Rikers.
I want to read this book but I’m almost afraid to know the truth.
Looking forward to reading it.
Count me in, please!
I know as much as an average person might know that these TV shows are pure fantasy; it would be really interesting to get the real information from an insider.
I have been watching Law & Order for years!! This would be such an interesting read for me!
An eye-opening exerpt. Would love to win this book and read the rest of the story.
I kow I would LOVE this book. I have recently finished my original Law and Order collection. I have watched every single episide…more than once.
I would love to read this!
This should be an interesting and educational read if the excerpt is any indication.
Sounds very interesting. Thank you
I’m a huge fan of Law & Order and a criminal justice major. I would love to read this book that provides additional truth behind the criminal justice system.
Hello,
The justice system is flawed and prisons are overcrowded. I read a lot of True Crime. I don’t buy what those TV shows are selling. Mary, your book appeals to me greatly. If I don’t win, I’ll buy it…but I want to win it. 4 out of 5 serial killers agree…….
Sounds interesting. I would like to read it.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
honestly this book needs to be read. the police are the worst and they hurt far more than any other group of people!
What happened to justice? Would really like to read the book.
Good luck all!!!!
I’ve always been interested in this!
I loved Law & Order. I can’t they are bringing some form of it back.
What a great opportunity to see inside what is such a mystery to most of us.
This really gives me the chills to think I could read Law & Order in a book. Amazing!
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