NY’s top juvenile justice officials, judges, social workers, prosecutors and child advocates discussed the state s recently enacted "Raise the Age" law.
Pandemic-driven delays in construction, staffing shortages and lengthy pretrial stays for adolescent offenders have slowed down the ability to create more bed space, NY official say.
/ Youth were among those who campaigned for the Raise the Age law, which fully went into effect in 2019.
A law designed to keep young people away from hardened criminals in adult prisons seems to be doing just that. And a new study finds it’s also not saddling those who committed crimes before age 18 with the problems that can come with a record. We reported on the Raise the Age law when it went into effect in 2018. Marcy Mistrett is a research fellow at the Sentencing Project, and authored the report. She says the data show the number of 16- and 17-year-olds in adult prisons has effectively gone to zero. Those youth who were previously tried as adults for many offenses also avoid criminal histories.