New York state to overhaul sentencing guidelines for minors

A New York state law being implemented at the beginning of October will prevent minors from being automatically charged as adults in most criminal cases.  

Under the state’s new “Raise the Age” legislation, which goes into effect on Monday, 16 year olds accused of nonviolent crimes will not be prosecuted as an adult for nonviolent offenses. The law goes into effect for 17 year olds in October 2019. Before the law was passed, New York and North Carolina were the only states that automatically charged minors as adults.

Laura Angle | Digital Design Editor

Minors who have committed nonviolent offenses will be transferred to a family court, where there are more resources for intervention, according to the legislation. Those who have committed violent crimes will be prosecuted in the youth portion of criminal court, but have the opportunity to be moved to family court under certain circumstances.

“Raise the Age” will allow 16 and 17 year olds charged with misdemeanors to go through family court. Those accused of nonviolent felonies would be sent to a new youth section of criminal court. Then, they would be transferred to family court unless a district attorney identifies “extraordinary circumstances.”

A three-part test will determine if juveniles charged with violent felonies can be moved to family court. Judges will consider the following: if the victim suffered significant physical injury, if the accused minor used a weapon and if the minor engaged in criminal sexual conduct.

“You have the opportunity to have their whole care diverted altogether,” said Damian Pratt, director of Juvenile Justice and Detention Services at Onondaga County’s Department of Children and Family Services.

Pratt said the law will keep juveniles out of prison and put them in a place where they will be rehabilitated. He added that youth will receive more effective care because their cases will be separated based on who has committed a violent crime and needs detention, and who does not.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the final bill in April 2017.

Syracuse has programs to treat youth offenders through rehabilitation. In the past, referrals to youth programs were initiated on a case-by-case basis through court officials, defense lawyers and judges.

Proponents of the law are looking forward to the change, but some law enforcement officials have raised concerns about the cost of transferring minors from state-funded correctional facilities to local government, according to Ithaca.com.

Rick Trunfio, Onondaga County’s first chief assistant district attorney, said the new law will cause disparities among youth who need to be prosecuted for serious crimes.

“If they are in prison, then they committed a very serious crime,” Trunfio said. “It doesn’t matter if you were under the influence of drugs or if you’re a career criminal, everybody gets the same sentence under this law.”

Trunfio said criminal youth should be handled case-by-case, and the court should have discretion over sentencing.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick and Trunfio have called the legislation “a solution in search of a problem.”

Kara LaSorsa, Onondaga County’s deputy county attorney, said young kids sometimes make bad decisions because the adolescent mind isn’t fully developed at that age.

LaSorsa said if a child spends detention time in a facility that’s made for an adult, there is discrepancy in how minds develop.