Will Kalief Browder's death prompt trial reform?

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Akeem Browder is pushing Albany for speedier trials. He knows the judicial process and its pitfalls after his brother Kalief Browder spent 3 years in Rikers Island but never went to trial. He went in as a 16-year-old and was released just before his 20th birthday. As a result of the trauma endured while incarcerated, Browder took his own life in 2015.

A bill was introduced a short time later and received bipartisan support but it has been slow to move since.

Kalief's story is also the topic of a new documentary series called "Time: The Kalief Browder Story" on Spike TV produced by Jay-Z and Harvey Weinstein. One of the topics the doc touches on is economics. Coming from one of the poorest congressional districts in the country, Kalief didn't have money on his side, and neither was the system.

The bill addresses what is commonly referred to as the "trial clock." Right now, issues like court congestion or a variety of other issues can delay cases by months. Kalief Law would give judges the power to set deadlines that prosecution have to meet.

Kalief Browder's case has become a glaring example of a broken judicial system. Arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack, Browder -- a minor at the time -- was charged with robbery, a felony.