Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s renewed push in his State of the State address to raise the age of criminal responsibility is a critically important component of criminal justice reform, and an opportunity to end New York’s ignominious status as one of only two states that automatically try 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in criminal court.
It’s also an opportunity for New York City—working with the judiciary, the district attorneys and the defense bar—to expand local policies and procedures to mitigate the effects of New York’s draconian age threshold while we wait to see if the legislature heeds Gov. Cuomo’s call.
