BILL NUMBER: S7172

SPONSOR: BAILEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the family court act, in relation to execution of
warrants in juvenile delinquency cases when family courts are closed

This is one in a series of measures being introduced at the request of
the Chief Administrative Judge upon the recommendation of his Family
Court Advisory and Rules Committee.

Among the most salutary features of the "raise the age" legislation
("RTA") enacted in 2017 are the provisions that require accused juvenile
delinquents to be brought before available accessible magistrates,
designated by each Appellate Division, for pre-petition hearings during
evening, weekend and holiday hours when Family Courts are not in
session. See Family Court Act §§ 305.2(4), 307.3(4)  
L.  2017, C. 59,
PART WWW, §§ 63, 65. These provisions, statewide in scope and including
evenings, are an expansion of a long-standing, successful program in New
York City in which alleged juvenile delinquents arrested on weekends and
holidays are brought before the New York City Criminal Court for pre-
petition detention hearings pursuant to Family Court Act § 307.4. The
              

hearings have resulted in the pretrial release of many youth, thus
avoiding unnecessary disruption of the juveniles' family and school life
and significantly reducing unnecessary detention costs for New York
City.

Recognizing the benefits of these provisions, we propose this measure to
amend Family Court Act § 312.2 to include similar provisions for juve-
nile delinquents returned on warrants when Family Courts are not in
session. The measure would require juveniles in such cases to be brought
before "the most accessible magistrate, if any, designated by the appel-
late division." The magistrates would determine whether the juveniles
would be released or detained and would then set a date for the juvenile
to appear in Family Court, i.e., no later than the next day the Family
Court is in session if the juvenile is detained and within ten court
days if the juvenile is released. In determining whether the juvenile
should be released, with or without conditions, or detained, the magis-
trate shall apply the criteria in and issue the findings required by
section 320.5 of the Family Court Act. In order that Family Court would
be alerted to expect the case, the order of the magistrate must be imme-
diately transmitted to it.

Significantly, this measure would provide an avenue for a prompt deter-
mination of release or detention analogous to that already provided in
the RTA for juvenile and adolescent offenders whose felony cases are
prosecuted in Youth Parts of superior courts. See CPL § 120.90(5-a)  
L.
2017, C. 59, PART WWW, § 16. It will avoid unnecessary detention, thus
allowing juveniles in appropriate cases to remain in their homes and
schools and, at the same time, saving localities from paying detention
costs.

There is no justification for a system that ensures that juveniles
between the ages of 13 and 18 charged with felonies in superior courts
are brought before judges promptly upon execution of warrants and given
the opportunity for release without according a comparable benefit to
juveniles of all ages who are charged as juvenile delinquents with
misdemeanors or whose felony cases have been removed to Family Court.
Failure to include a provision in the current statute directing juvenile
delinquents returned on warrants to be brought before accessible magis-
trates when Family Courts are not in session violates the fundamental
value of fairness permeating the RTA implementation efforts, i.e., that
outcomes for the 16-year olds and 17-year olds who are prosecuted in
Family Court should not be worse off after the effective date of the RTA
statute than prior to its enactment. This measure is essential to remedy
that failure.

This measure, which would have no fiscal impact, would take effect 60
days after it becomes a law.

 
2019-20 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

OCA 14(R1)

A7959 (M of A Raynor)  
PASSED