A group of over 220 organizations launched a new coalition this week to defend against any potential attempt to roll back the state’s Raise the Age law, which prevents the state from prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults.
Public defense attorneys, criminal justice advocates, unions, clergy groups and others teamed up to form a group — The Coalition to Protect Raise the Age: Build Futures, Invest in Youth — in the wake of an expected push to scale back the 2017 criminal justice reform in the upcoming legislative session in Albany.
The coalition, which includes groups like The Legal Aid Society, St. John’s University School of Law Defense and Advocacy Clinic, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road New York, CUNY School of Law Defenders Clinic, Brooklyn Defender Services and others, began meeting with lawmakers this week, urging them to reject any attempt to alter the state’s Raise the Age law. The coalition also plans to launch an ad campaign to defend the law…