New York
Contact Information
Raise the Age NY is a public awareness campaign for fair and effective criminal justice policies in New York that improve outcomes for children and public safety. Campaign members include national and local advocates, youth, parents, law enforcement and legal representative groups, faith leaders, and unions that have come together to increase public awareness of New York state’s new Raise the Age law and the need to ensure that its implementation creates a legal process that responds to all children as children and meets the rehabilitative needs of all children and youth.
Legislation
Bill Number: S 7505
Type of Reform
Detention Reform - This legislation removes Adolescent Offenders from adult system control by October 2020.
Year: 2017
Bill Number: A 3009c
Type of Reform
Raise the Age Reform - This budget bill raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 17 years old by October 1, 2018, and to 18 years old by October 1, 2019. While all felony cases start in the Youth Part of the Adult Superior Court, most cases will be transferred to the Family Court unless the District Attorney argues for extraordinary circumstances. Offenses that involve displaying a deadly weapon in furtherance of an offense, causing significant physical injury or engaging in unlawful sexual contact are excluded from the Family Court. The bill also created a Governor-appointed Raise the Age Task Force for Implementation. The Task Force must release implementation reports on April 2018 and August 2019.
Year: 2017
Reports
Expanding Youth Justice in New York (2020)
This paper from Youth Represent and Children’s Defense Fund-New York focuses on research and policy interventions for emerging adults age 18 to 25, while also examining the continued prosecution of some juveniles in adult court. Despite New York’s Raise the Age law, some 16- and 17-year-olds continue to have their cases heard in adult criminal court Youth Parts, and children as young as 13 are prosecuted in the adult court system for certain offenses.
One Year of Raise the Age: Five Takeaways (2020)
This report from the New York City Criminal Justice Agencey examines key trends from analysis of the first year under New York's Raise the Age law, which raised the age of criminal responsibility and changed how adolescent offenders are processed.
New York State Raise the Age Implementation Task Force First Annual Report (2019)
This official report from the Task Force created by the Raise the Age law looks at how the law has been implemented so far.
Raise the Age NY Implementation Brief No. 1 (2019)
This brief reviews statewide developments since October 2018 when the Raise the Age law went into effect for 16-year-olds.
Final Report of the Governor’s Commission on Youth, Public Safety, and Justice: Recommendations for Juvenile Justice Reform in New York State
This extensive report, commissioned by New York’s Governor in 2014, is the result of a wide-ranging research effort into New York’s justice system, and it concludes with recommendations on how New York can raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction as well as other justice system improvements.
Line Drawing: Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Court Jurisdiction in New York (2014)
This report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice examines the reasons for changing the age of criminal jurisdiction and reviews the implications of such a change.