VIEWPOINT: The Failure of Raise the Age: A Gift to New York’s Gangs

Raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York state has created a nightmare scenario that opened statutory loopholes which prohibit law enforcement and prosecutors from doing their job. As a result of this reckless policy failure, youth violence in New York has skyrocketed while gangs recruit those under 18 to do their bidding knowing they’ll be siphoned off to more lenient Family Court instead of facing substantial consequences for their actions. The statistics surrounding this failure are startling. Before New York changed its age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old, courts could treat 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds who committed serious felonies as adults. In 2017, nearly 60 percent of offenders charged with serious crimes were convicted in adult criminal court, and more than 1,000 received a prison or jail sentence. In 2024, however, less than 10 percent (435 of 4,475 offenders) received a felony conviction, with only 211 confined to an Office of Children and Family Services facility for more than a year. These numbers are staggering, and to be clear, we aren’t talking about minor offenses. The crimes involved in these cases include: •​ 159 arrests for homicide (completed /attempted); •​ 613 arrests for firearms/dangerous weapons; •​ 818 arrests for assault; •​ 1,292 arrests for robbery; •​ 65 arrests for sex offenses; •​ 368 arrests for burglary; •​ 730 arrests for larceny; •​ 131 arrests for controlled-substances offenses; and •​  13 arrests for making a terroristic threat (source: Department of Criminal Justice Services). New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has rightfully called out these policies for what they are: reckless. Simply put, New York Democrats have created a system that gives dangerous criminals a pass. Charges of homicide, assault and sexual offenses have gone unprosecuted as a result of these so-called criminal justice “reforms.” The perpetrators of these crimes are old enough to know murder and rape are wrong. Refusing to allow prosecution of them isn’t reform, it’s insanity. The Assembly Minority Conference has offered several proposals to address this problem. • ​A.4705 (Barclay) — Prevents 16-year-old and 17-year-old adolescent offenders (AOs) who commit serious felonies from escaping criminal liability by being removed to Family Court. Requires 16-year-old and 17-year-old AOs charged with non-violent felonies to be removed to Family Court unless the court decides, after reviewing Family Court records, and upon a motion by the district attorney, that circumstances exist that should prevent the transfer to Family Court. Requires 16-year-old and 17-year-old AOs who commit any violent felony (e.g., gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon) to remain in the Youth Part of Superior Court, unless all parties (judge, defense attorney, prosecutor) agree the action should be removed to Family Court in the interest of justice. Requires victims to be made aware of the final disposition of a case in Family Court; • ​A.3167 (Reilly) — Includes the possession of a loaded firearm as one of the circumstances that permits the AO defendant to be tried in the Youth Part of the Criminal Court and not escape criminal responsibility by being removed to Family Court or juvenile probation intake; and • ​A.4124 (Reilly) — Prevents AOs from having their criminal case removed to Family Court from the Youth Part of Criminal Court if they are charged with the newly created crime of aggravated grand larceny or grand larceny in the fourth degree as defined in subdivision eight of section 155.30 of the Penal Law. Removes the requirement that a prosecutor must prove that extraordinary circumstances exist (one out of a thousand cases) that warrant the case to remain in the criminal Youth Part of Superior Court. Without corrective action at the state level, the coming summer months will be especially challenging for law enforcement and residents in New York. These policies of [raising the age of criminal responsibility] have done nothing but make our streets less safe and empower criminal enterprises. Simply put, Raise the Age is a broken law that legislative Democrats refuse to fix. I strongly urge the governor and her legislative allies to change this policy immediately.      

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William (Will) A. Barclay, 56, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses all of Oswego County, as well as parts of Jefferson and Cayuga counties.