Hello there, I'm James Fletcher, and thanks for downloading this podcast from the BBC.

If you follow the news, it's probably no surprise to you that the United States locks up

a lot of its citizens, but when you listen to the opening of this program, I think you'll

understand why there are some statistics about incarceration there that still have the

capacity to make your jaw drop.

That happened to me, and you'll probably understand why I wanted to go and do this story.

So here it is.

Welcome back to the BBC World Service. I'm James Fletcher. When I was a kid growing up

in Australia, I used to watch reruns of the 1950s Superman TV show, and there was one

line that I still remember.

Truth justice in the American way. From Superman to contemporary courtroom dramas, American

popular culture often portrays the US as the home of the highest legal principles, where

people are innocent until proven guilty, and where the right to a fair trial means justice

ultimately is the American way. So I was surprised to learn recently that on any given

day in America, nearly half a million people are in jail without being convicted of a crime.

That's more than the total prison population of any other country in the world, except

China, Brazil, and Russia. Most of those people will never face trial. For assignment

this week, I've come to New York City to find out why. This is King's County Criminal

Court in Brooklyn. If you're arrested and charged in Brooklyn, you'll be brought here

within around 24 hours to face a judge for the first time. It's known as a rainment.

The defendants are mostly people of color, African American and Hispanic, and they're

mostly poor, which means they're represented by public defenders. The allegation that

...