T620,

What are the big takeaways from this new research?

This report describes the processing of 16-year-old arrestees during the first six months of New York State’s Raise the Age Law. Arrests in October 2018 through March 2019 are compared with arrests in October 2017 through March 2018, one year prior to the implementation of Raise the Age.

There were half as many arrests of 16-year-olds in the first six months of Raise the Age as there were in the comparison period. The largest decrease was for arrests for misdemeanor or lesser charges.

A handful of charges account for nearly all of the decline in the volume of misdemeanor arrests among 16-year-olds: petit larceny, criminal possession of marijuana 5, assault 3, criminal trespass 2 and 3, theft of services and criminal possession of a weapon 4. The decrease in arrests for marijuana and for theft of services (usually fare-beating) probably reflect changes in NYPD policy but the decrease in arrests for the other charges likely reflect changes related to treating 16-year olds as juveniles rather than adults.

Do you think that raise the age is having the effect that its supporters hoped it would?

The Raise the Age Law has been tremendously effective. No youths aged 16 or 17 are now in pretrial detention on Rikers Island. All of the youths charged with Penal Law misdemeanors avoided prosecution in the adult court and, as of July 15, 2019, more than eight of every ten felony-level cases processed in the adult courts were removed to family courts.

18:T6cf,

Based on you research, how do you think implementation of the law will play out in the near future?

Implementation of Raise the Age for 16-year-olds went so smoothly that all parties expect the expansion to 17-year-olds will also be smooth.

In fact, Governor Cuomo recently signed an improvement to the Raise the Age Law. In accordance with the law, youths charged with felonies are arraigned in Youth Parts in each borough but the arraignments are b

Related Content