Don’t treat kids as adult criminals

Letter of the Editor

Posted

To the editor:

I want to commend my state senator, Jeffrey Klein, for his support of the “Raise the Age” effort now in front of the New York State Legislature. Sen. Klein has shown great compassion and courage in sponsoring this bill.

Currently, New York is one of only two states in the country that automatically prosecute 16- and 17-year-olds as adults regardless of the crimes they are alleged to have committed. This includes instances in which an adolescent is accused of a non-violent crime.

By incarcerating 16- and 17-year-olds in adult lockups, we virtually guarantee that they will become lifelong criminals.

By contrast, there is solid evidence that adolescents who are convicted of felonies and treated as juvenile offenders are far less likely to become recidivists. IN other words, trying 16- and 17-year-olds as criminals is tragic: It ruins the lives of otherwise salvageable young people, and undermines public safety by promoting chronic criminal behavior.

I have been working with the Jewish social action organization Bend the Arc to encourage our legislators to rectify this situation, and I am heartened that Gov. Cuomo recently included raising the age of criminal responsibility in his budget proposal to be voted upon April 1.

Our state assemblymen and senators must use the budget negotiations to pass comprehensive legislation that ensures as many cases as possible are heard in family court. As citizens, we need to contact our state legislators to advocate for real reform in the budget.

This is a goal all of us can share in.

We must rally behind Sen. Klein to ensure that Raise the Age is passed and that a new era of rehabilitation instead of punishment comes to New York State.

JACK M. GORMAN 

The author is chief executive and chief scientific officer of Franklin Behavioral Health Consultants, and co-founder of Critica LLC.

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