One Year of Raise the Age: Five Takeaways

Key trends from analysis of the first year of Raise the Age, which raised the age of criminal responsibility and changed how adolescent offenders are processed
May 11, 2020
by Marian Gewirtz

New York's Raise the Age Law went into effect on October 1, 2018, raising the age of criminal responsibility in the State and changing how adolescent arrestees are processed. In a new research report CJA's Marian Gewirtz compares the first year of the law to the same period before it was implemented. Her study describes the arrests as well as adult-court case outcomes for adolescent offenders. Below are 5 key takeaways from the report that illustrate the impact of implementation of Raise the Age on adolescent arrests in NYC.

The First Year of Raise the Age
Read the full report from Marian Gewirtz that includes a fuller analysis of demographics, arrests, and case outcomes.
Publications
The First Year of Raise the Age
Marian Gewirtz
May 12, 2020

1: In accordance with the Raise the Age Law, no 16-year-old charged with a misdemeanor at arrest was processed in adult court.

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2: There were 2,522 arrests of 16-year-olds in the first year of Raise the Age, far fewer than the 4,309 arrests of 16-year-olds in the previous year.

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3: Nearly half of the Raise the Age arrests were for misdemeanor or lesser charges, a third were for violent felonies, and the remaining 20 percent were for non-violent felonies.

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4: More than three quarters of the Adolescent Offenders (AOs) were released on recognizance at arraignment, an additional five percent were released under supervision, one percent were released on bail, 15 percent were held on bail and three percent were remanded with no bail set.

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5: As of December 31, 2019, most (84 percent) of the AO cases had been removed to Family Court including 80 percent of those with violent felony charges and 92 percent of those with non-violent felony charges.

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