If NY Politicians Really Want to Stop Locking Up Teens, Why Won’t They Do It?

For five years, “Raise the Age” legislation has been proposed to eliminate New York’s current practice of prosecuting all 16 and 17-year-old juvenile offenders as adult criminals. And for five years, Republicans and a handful of rogue Democrats in the State Senate have blocked it. This year was supposed to be different — on its face, the initiative has bipartisan support, and Governor Andrew Cuomo gave it a strong endorsement during his State of the State speech in January. But one month before the state government must settle on a budget, the fate of Raise the Age is still very much uncertain.

The legislation, initially sponsored by Democratic State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, has been held up in committee since 2012, first because of the Republican Senate majority, and now, by the breakaway Democrats known as the Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC, led by State Senator Jeffrey Klein.

Senator Montgomery’s legislation...would raise the age of criminal responsibility for all offenses to eighteen and channel juvenile offenders into Family Court, where the emphasis is on rehabilitation rather than punishment. Montgomery’s legislation also features a manual override, authorizing the full adult criminal prosecution of offenders where exceptional circumstances warrant and the local District Attorney requests it.

To read the story, visit http://www.villagevoice.com/news/if-ny-politicians-really-want-to-stop-locking-up-teens-why-wont-they-do-it-9773201