A coalition of legal advocates called on lawmakers to defend a state law that prevents youth under 18 from being prosecuted on Wednesday.
On the steps of New York City Hall, elected officials, legal advocates, formerly incarcerated persons and youth called on legislators in Albany to protect the state’s Raise the Age law, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old. The Raise the Age Coalition, which represents over 220 organizations from across the state, also called for the state to distribute the $1 billion in funds already allocated for the law that are currently sitting unused.
The rally comes a day after Governor Kathy Hochul gave her State of the State address. While she didn’t mention the law, she has reportedly been having discussions behind the scenes with the state’s district attorneys about rolling the reform back in the coming months…