Press Releases
Raise the Age NY Campaign Responds to Senator Flanagan’s Comments on Raise the AgeReleased March 4, 2016Contact: Kenneth Londono, kenneth.londono@berlinrosen.com, 646-335-0420 Raise the Age NY Campaign Responds to Senator Flanagan’s Comments on Raise the Age New York Remains One of Two States to Automatically Prosecute 16 and 17-Year-Olds As Adults, Despite Risks to Youth and Public Safety New York, NY – Following Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s comments today expressing opposition to raise the age, the Raise the Age NY campaign released the following statement: “It’s unfortunate that the Senate Republican conference is turning its back on public safety and the tens of thousands of New York youth who are needlessly sent through the adult criminal justice system,” said Jennifer March, a spokesperson for the Raise the Age NY Campaign, a group of over 100 law enforcement experts, children’s advocates, clergy and unions. “The reason why every other state but one has raised the age is because charging youth as adults actually increases the likelihood that they will re-offend in the future. We will continue to educate the public and our elected officials because New York can’t remain alone with North Carolina in charging all 16 year olds as adults.” About the Raise the Age NY campaign: Raise the Age NY is a public awareness campaign that includes 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 the need to implement a comprehensive approach to raise the age of criminal responsibility in New York State so that the legal process responds to all children as children and provides services and placement options that better meet the rehabilitative needs of all children and youth. New York is one of only two states in the country (the other is North Carolina) that have failed to recognize what research and science have confirmed – adolescents are children, and prosecuting and placing them in the adult criminal justice system doesn’t work for them and doesn’t work for public safety. Children who are prosecuted as adults are more likely to continue committing crimes in the future. Children who are treated as children are more likely to stay out of jail, and out of the justice system: – Studies have found that young people prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system are 34% more likely to be re-arrested for violent or other crimes than youth retained in the youth justice system. – A study comparing youth prosecuted in New York’s adult courts to young people prosecuted for the same felonies in New Jersey’s juvenile courts found that the New York youth were more likely to recidivate . Not only were New York youth 100% more likely to be rearrested for a violent crime, they also had higher re-incarceration rates and shorter time periods to re-arrest than their New Jersey peers. – In 2013, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission found that when the state began prosecuting 17-year-olds as juveniles, juvenile crime continued to decline. Moreover, between 2010 when the law changed, until 2013, the state experienced a 14% decrease in violent crime. Contrary to what opponents had predicted, including 17-year-olds did not overload the juvenile justice system, nor did it increase juvenile offenses. – Research into brain development underscores that adolescents are in fact children and that the human brain is not fully formed until the age of 25. – As the cognitive skills of adolescents are developing, adolescents’ behavior is often impulsive and they lack the ability to focus on the consequences of their behavior. – Because the adolescent brain is still developing, the character, personality traits and behavior of adolescents are highly receptive to change; adolescents respond well to interventions, learn to make responsible choices, and are likely to grow out of negative or delinquent behavior. Raise the Age NY is a campaign that supports raising the age of criminal responsibility for all children in New York to improve outcomes for children and public safety. For more information about the Raise the Age campaign, visit www.raisetheageny.com. Lead group members: Center for Community Alternatives Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York Correctional Association of New York Families Together in New York State Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Herstory Writers Workshop, Inc. NAACP Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy The Children’s Agenda The Children’s Defense Fund – New York The Fund for Modern Courts Westchester Children’s Association Youth Represent Additional supporters to date: 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East 32BJ SEIU Alternatives for Battered Women American Friends Service Committee (NY) Amnesty International Arab American Association of NY Association for Community Living, Inc. Association of NYS Youth Bureaus Association to Benefit Children Harry Belafonte Bronx Christian Fellowship Church Bronx Clergy Roundtable Brooklyn Community Services Brooklyn Defender Services Campaign to End the New Jim Crow Casa Rochester/Monroe County, Inc. Center for Children’s Initiatives Center for Popular Democracy Child Welfare Organizing Project Children’s Village Citizens Action of New York City of Glen Cove Youth Bureau Coalition for Asian American Children and Families Coalition for Education Justice Coalition for Hispanic Children and Families Coalition for the Homeless Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Commission on the Public’s Health System Communities United for Police Reform Community Connections for Youth Community Service Society Community Voices for Youth and Families Crossway Church Dignity in Schools Campaign – New York Equal Justice Initiative Faith in New York Families On The Move of NYC, Inc. First Corinthian Baptist Church Forestdale Inc. Good Shepherd Services Graham Windham Human Services Council Jewish Child Care Association Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club Latino Justice PRLDEF Lawyers for Children Leake &Watts Services, Inc. Legal Action Center Legal Aid Society Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Long Island Progressive Coalition Lutheran Family Health Centers Make the Road New York Montefiore School Health Program National Association of Social Workers – New York State National Economic and Social Rights Initiative Neighborhood Family Services Coalition New York American Academy of Pediatrics, District II New York Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers, Inc. New York Center for Juvenile Justice New York Civil Liberties Union New York Lawyers for the Public Interest New York Society for Ethical Culture New York State Coalition for Children’s Mental Health New York State Coalition for School-Based Health Centers New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare New York Theological Seminary NYC Jails Action Coalition Partnership for After School Education (PASE) Partnership for the Public Good Partners in Restorative Initiatives Pumphouse Projects Save the Kids SCO Family of Services Staten Island Council on Child Abuse and Neglect S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth Inc. Teachers Unite The Black Institute The Brotherhood/Sister Sol The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) The Children’s Aid Society The Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies, Inc. The Fortune Society The Legal Aid Society The New York Foundling The Osborne Association The Partnership For Public Good The Resolution Plan Tremont United Methodist Church United Neighborhood Houses Unique People Services Uniting Disabled Individuals, Inc Urban Health Plan, Inc. Urban Justice Center Urban Youth Collaborative VOCAL-NY Women’s City Club of New York Pastor Mike Walrond William F. Ryan Community Health Network YOUTH POWER! ###
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