NCJ Number
241477
Date Published
March 2012
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This "Policy Brief" argues that New York State should raise the age for processing an offender as a juvenile to 18-years-old, meaning that any person under the age of 18 cannot be treated as an adult.
Abstract
New York and North Carolina are the only two States that process children as young as 16 years old as adults in the criminal justice system. Most States follow the Federal Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act, which suggests that the juvenile court jurisdiction's upper age limit be any time before a youth's 18th birthday. The difference between the juvenile system and adult system is philosophy. The juvenile justice system focuses on the child or youth and offers an opportunity for rehabilitation. The adult criminal justice system, on the other hand, focuses on the severity of the offense and what it warrants in terms of punishment. Research is cited to show that outcomes for 16- and 17-year-olds processed in the adult system have poorer outcomes than the same age groups processed in the juvenile justice system in other States. One of the barriers to changing New York's statute is cost. Raising the age of the juvenile courts' jurisdiction would involve cost shifts between local governments and the State. In addition, the change would impact law enforcement, the courts, detention, residential care, and community-based programs and services for 16- and 17-year-olds. Some of these costs would be offset by potential cost-savings due to a reduction in expenses for the adult criminal justice system for processing. In addition to recommending that the upper age for processing as a juvenile be raised to age 18, this Policy Brief recommends the inclusion of a transfer provision to the adult criminal system for those cases that involve a serious crime. 24 notes