CCC Testimony: City Council Hearing on Resolution 1067: Supporting New York State Chief Judge Lippman’s Call to Raise the Age of Criminal Responsibility for Non-violent Offenses to 18

Published November, 2011

CCC testified at a Juvenile Justice Committee Hearing on November 2, 2011 in support of the Council Resolution supporting Chief Judge Lippman’s proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility in New York to 18 for non-violent offenses, but CCC also urged the City Council and the State to go further and presumptively treat all children as children.

CCC’s testimony applauds the Chief Judge and the City Council for their attention to this critical issue. The children of New York have been waiting 50 years to be treated as children in the criminal justice system, where now 16 and 17 years olds are prosecuted as adults (as our children 13-15 who have committed more violent crimes.)CCC also testified that given the science showing the adolescent brain is not fully developed, recent Supreme Court cases acknowledging children should be treated differently than adults, and CCC’s belief that all children should be treated as children, the proposal to raise the age should be expanded to all children under 18.