Raise the Age Coalition Slams Proposals to Roll Back Historic Youth Justice Legislation

 Calls for Real Solutions to Gun Violence, not Scapegoating Teenagers

Statement from Children’s Defense Fund-NY, Citizens Committee for Children, Youth Represent, and Families Together on behalf of the Raise the Age coalition

In response to reports of last-minute proposals to include rollbacks to New York’s Raise the Age legislation in state budget negotiations, the Raise the Age Coalition calls on the Governor and legislative leaders to reject any proposals to dilute the historic youth justice law and to advance and invest in public safety solutions that address the root causes of gun violence. Rolling back reforms that are working for young people and communities is not the remedy.  

Rolling back Raise the Age will not make New York safer. While it is clear that the uptick in gun violence is an epidemic that requires action, the Raise the Age law is not responsible for this crisis.  During the first eighteen months of the implementation of the Raise the Age law, shootings in New York City remained the lowest they have been in decades, even as arrests and incarceration of 16- and 17-year-olds declined dramatically. Only after months of COVID-19 infections, deaths, and lockdowns, did gun violence increase in New York. To consider roll-backs to Raise the Age would not only undo vital criminal justice reform, but would deflect attention and action away from the root causes of this problem.

 

Visit the Raise the Age website for more information.