Recently, Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio agreed to close the infamous Rikers Island prison over the next 10 years now the state of New York will soon no longer try 16 and 17-year old’s as adults after passing of the “raise the age” law Sunday, April 10th, leaving North Carolina as the only country in the US who treat teenagers as adults in criminal court.
Roughly 28,000 mostly black and latino 16 and 17-year old are arrested each year in New York many for misdemeanors by October 2019, New York will no longer automatically prosecute teenagers as adults diverting many of the cases to family court or judges with special training. Teens arrested on violent felony charges approximately 1 percent of all teenage cases can also have their case diverted depending on the injuries of the victim, if the teen used a weapon and if the teen engaged in sexual conduct. The law changes the rules on housing teen offenders by keeping them to only in juvenile facilities many citing the story of Kalief Browder as an example for the change.
In an address to the state New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said “Putting aside the fact that psychologists will testify that 16- and 17-year-olds often are not mentally mature, the reality of putting a 16- or 17-year-old in the same facility as hardened adult criminals is, on its face, cruel and unusual,”. Studies have shown that juveniles in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted and thirty-six times more likely to commit suicide. Many adult prisons are unequipped to handle the issues of facing teenagers most opting to place them in solitary confinement were studies have shown the confinement does severe damage to both mental and physical health.
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Source: thinkprogress.org
