What's happening
This bill raises the maximum age for youthful offender status in New York from under 19 to under 21 years old.
Why it matters
Expanding youthful offender status to those under 21 could reduce the long-term consequences of a criminal conviction. for more young adults, potentially improving their opportunities for employment, education, and housing by keeping many criminal records sealed or confidential.
Research shows that adolescent brain development continues into the early twenties. this change aligns New York law with scientific understanding that young adults may be less culpable and more capable of rehabilitation than older offenders.
The amendment could lead to more equitable treatment for young people in the criminal justice system. , especially for those who commit offenses shortly after turning 19 or 20, who under previous law were treated identically to older adults despite similar maturity levels as younger teens.
This policy change may disproportionately benefit communities of color. , who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, by affording a greater number of young people access to the protections and second-chance opportunities of youthful offender status.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Raise Youthful Offender Age
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3112
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 26, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the age of a youthful offender
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 720.10 of the criminal procedure law, as amended by chapter 411 of the laws of 1979, is amended to read as follows:
1. "Youth" means a person charged with a crime alleged to have been committed when he or she was at least sixteen years old and less than [nineteen] twenty-one years old or a person charged with being a juvenile offender as defined in subdivision forty-two of section 1.20 of this chapter.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03424-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.