What’s Next for New York’s Young People Under Raise the Age? [JJIE.org]

I’ve spent 15 years working inside New York’s justice system, representing teenagers and doing research inside juvenile facilities. When the New York State Legislature passed legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, I viewed this change not as resolution of a long-standing problem within New York’s justice system, but rather as a step toward needed reforms of our state’s juvenile justice system.

Advocates for raising the age of criminal responsibility believe kids should be treated as kids, not adults. Youth should be housed in juvenile residential and detention facilities, not in adult jails and prisons. They should receive services and treatment that are age-appropriate and avoid the stain of an adult criminal conviction on their records. Underlying support for raise the age is the belief that the juvenile justice system is better for young people and that they receive the services they need to grow up and out of crime.

[For more of this story, written by Alexandra Cox, go to http://jjie.org/2017/07/23/wha...under-raise-the-age/]