OPINION: Planning was less than ideal for ‘Raise the Age’
It has been a long time coming. On Monday, the age of juvenile delinquency in New York State was raised from age 16- to 17-years-old and the age of criminal responsibility will be raised to 18-years-old a year from now on Oct. 1, 2019.
There are compelling reasons for making this move. Legislators have been talking about it and planning for it for years. This was put into law more than a year ago. So why weren’t the city and state agencies better prepared?
For years, New York was one of only two states — the other being North Carolina — in which juveniles under the age of 18 were treated as adults by the criminal justice system. They were tried in adult courts and held in adult jails.