Editorial

Support the effort to 'Raise the Age'

Posted

Sixteen- and 17-year-old New Yorkers who commit crimes are charged as adults. It’s a fact that many people are unaware of — New York and North Carolina are the only states that automatically process, prosecute and incarcerate 16- and 17-year-old offenders as adults, with no room for so-called juvenile jurisdiction.

In 40 states, those younger than 18 are treated as juveniles, and eight other states draw the line of juvenile jurisdiction at 17.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo brought the issue to light in his 2014 State of the State address last winter, pledging that he would seek reform. Last April he established a commission of legal, criminal-justice and social-services professionals to devise an action plan to not only change the minimum age of criminal responsibility, but to reform New York’s entire criminal and juvenile justice system.

The commission made a host of recommendations, highlighted by its urging that the age at which offenders are treated as adults be raised to 18. Based on the commission’s report, Cuomo outlined a plan to “Raise the Age” in his 2015-16 executive budget proposal, which he unveiled Jan. 21. We support it.

In some instances, of course, charging teenage offenders as adults makes sense. Most people would agree that 16- or 17-year-olds who commit murder or rape should be charged as adults and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But it makes little sense for those younger than 18 who have been found guilty of nonviolent crimes, like vandalism or shoplifting, to be incarcerated in our crowded adult prisons, where they are surrounded by older, often lifelong criminals — the last role models they need.

That’s not to say that 16- and 17-year-olds who commit nonviolent crimes should have it easy. Those who are found guilty of a crime, no matter their age, deserve to be punished. But younger, still-maturing offenders also deserve the opportunity to be rehabilitated through community-based services, under strict supervision, and to have a second chance to become positive, contributing members of society.

Page 1 / 2