Co-authored by Melanie Hartzog, Executive Director, CDF-New York
Under
New York’s juvenile justice system a child as young as 7 can be
arrested for a crime, and a 16-year-old is automatically charged as an
adult.
These laws are shockingly behind the times — bad for
children and bad for public safety. New York is one of only four states
to create a juvenile jurisdiction for little children who are barely old
enough to shed their baby teeth and still believe in the tooth fairy.
And they are expected to have the cognitive development necessary to
participate in and understand a trial?
New York is one of only two states to ignore the latest neurological research underscoring the fact that 16- and 17-year-olds are still children developmentally.
Their brains will not be fully formed until age 25, and they lack the
ability to control impulsive behavior by focusing on its consequences.
This
key developmental period is an important opportunity for
rehabilitation. Research shows that adolescents are highly receptive to
change in a way that adults are not. They respond very well to proven
interventions and with them can learn to make more responsible choices.
Ignoring
evidence-based interventions proven to reduce recidivism and continuing
to ship teens off to crime school (adult prison) are mistakes we can’t
afford to keep making. In adult prisons, youths are more likely to
suffer physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and be molded by other
prisoners, often hardened career criminals. Studies have found that
youths in the adult criminal justice system are 36 times more likely to
commit suicide and are rearrested 34-percent more often for felony
crimes than their peers in the juvenile justice system.
This sobering fact, that automatically charging 16- and 17-year-olds as adults makes them more likely to commit violent crimes, is proof that this policy is a threat
to public safety. The evidence shows that children should be treated as
children, particularly since these teen arrests are overwhelmingly for
nonviolent crimes like shoplifting, turnstile jumping, or drug
possession. The racial disparities in policing youths of color (over 70
percent of the children arrested and 80 percent of the children sent to
prison statewide are Black and Latino) compound the harm that these
unfair laws are inflicting on our children and communities.
Earlier this year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo included recommendations from his Commission on Youth, Public Safety & Justice
in his 2015-16 executive budget. His proposal raises the minimum age of
juvenile jurisdiction from age 7 to 12 (age 10 in rare cases of
homicide). It also raises the overall age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18
and broadens the list of eligible circumstances in which young offender
status can be assigned to age 21. Importantly, this means that 16- and
17-year-olds would never again be housed with adult criminals. Instead,
the justice system would focus on proven services and interventions that
the most current research has demonstrated result in better outcomes
for youths and reduce recidivism and keep communities safer from violent
crime.
CDF’s work to raise the age in New York builds on our early work to keep children out of adult jails — recognizing inhumane conditions and great harms to children. In the foreword to our 1976 report "Children in Adult Jails," Judge Justine Wise Polier,
the state of New York’s first woman judge, who presided in New York
City’s family court for 38 years and at the time was the director of
CDF’s Juvenile Justice Division, chided states that continued to
prosecute and jail children in the adult criminal justice system: “It
has been over three-quarters of a century since states began to
legislate that children should be treated as children.”
Today New York and North Carolina are the only two states left
that automatically treat children as adult criminals, but how pleased
Judge Polier would be that Gov. Cuomo has put forward a comprehensive,
evidence-based approach to juvenile justice reform that would change
that. Now is the time for the New York state legislature to join him by
adopting this important, long-overdue change. Then North Carolina, as
the last outlier, should join the rest of the states in seeking justice
for children.
This article shows that as educators and community leaders we need to understand and recognize the Cradle to Prison Pipeline. Our youth are being exposed to the criminal justice system at younger ages. As an educator, I try to be mindful of the techniques I use for behavior management. Once an educator writes a student up for a minor infraction, we are saying "I give up" , "I can no longer deal with you". This sends a bold statement to that child. That child learns that not only does their teacher not care, but the teacher is unwilling to deal with the them. Many children who show low student performance would rather be suspended from school. We are only placing more harm on ourselves when we punish and reprimand students in this way. We must begin to come up with more alternative solutions for our children. Exposing them to this type of punishment only increases their chances that they will end up on the wrong end of the criminal justice system.
ReplyDeleteI have recently began reading the book, "The New Jim Crow", a book recommended at one of the Plenary sessions during National Training. If we continue to allow these strategies and laws to progress, we will surely lose our youth and return to the same oppression experienced during the days of Jim Crow.
Myah: your response was so insightful and took the words right out of my mouth! I was thinking about who when adults give children, and yes even 16 year olds are still children, the message that they are not wanted they end up in the justice system. This is so counterintuitive because if as a nation our aim is to deter crime then why do we make such strict laws and put children there, punishing them as young as 7 years old? In Pennsylvania, the truancy laws in schools also perpetuate this, suspending and expelling children who are simply late for school and releasing them to the streets. This is another issue that funnels back into the idea of the Cradle to Prison pipeline. I hope that the state of New York comes to recognize the damage that they are causing.
ReplyDeletePerhaps having children in the prison system has nothing to do with the betterment of society and scaring them straight. Most institutions are motivated by the all mighty dollar, and it seems to me that especially in the case of imprisoning children, the concern is quantity over quality. The imprisonment of children sounds to me as another opportunity by which to capitalize on the amount of people to imprison, thus bringing in more money to those who own and run the prisons. When money is involved moral can easily become an option. I believe Michael Jackson had it right on point when he included the vocals of children saying "All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us" in his controversial 1996 song, They Don't Care About Us.
ReplyDeleteMan Jessikha, I feel you! I’m starting to really believe that there is truly a conspiracy to destroy our young black males. 7 years old...what can they do to be arrested. If I had a young child in New York I would be leaving! They already have stop and frisk now this. Can our boys live? I wish more people understood that prison is a business and our children are being funneled in like cattle to be slaughtered. However, I feel a change in my spirit coming people are waking up! The revolution is coming people are tired.
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ReplyDeleteIt is encouraging to hear that steps towards progress are being made in New York. It was surprising to me that a state with such a historically Democratic populous was one of the last two to finally listen to what countless psychologists have shown; namely that 16-17 year old are not adults. Unfortunately, I do have to agree with Jessikha's excellent point that money has certainly played a role in this. How scary is it that there are individuals whose bank accounts receive a boost every time a black or latino 16 year old was imprisoned for relatively minor, childish crimes. I specify black and latino because too many times have I seen white children of the same age commit the same crimes, only for it to be brushed under the rug as "boys will be boys" or some other excuse that holds no ground.
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed and sadly completely unsurprised that my current residence of North Carolina will soon be the last state to pass laws treating children for what they are, children. What is more depressing is that with the current governor and legislature in this state, this will not change any time soon. I think I would actually be more surprised if they followed suit with New York than if they started counting 14 year olds as adults; that is the current state of politics here in NC.
I agree, Matthew, it is good to see that their are strides being made in New York for its youth! As Jessikha previously stated finances play a role in this.
DeleteMatthew you stated a sad truth there is definitely a difference in the way minority youth are handled in comparison to white youth. Working in both Minneapolis and Chicago I have seen many forms of conflict resolutions that the authorities use with youth and there is HUGE difference in the approach with minority and white youth. The minority figure were approached as threats while white youth were spoken to as there was a moral lesson to be learned. This is a sad truth in our society where youth aren't perceived as lethal threats due to the color of there skin.
Working closely with government agencies in Minneapolis I am happy to say that there are policies that are being put in place that focuses on the training of our authority figures and how to approach and perceive the youth they have sworn to protect.
Its hard to agree with children in any prison for minor offenses. Ive always felt that even juvenile facilities should be reserved for violent crimes and felonies. But, as previously mentioned, our Black and Brown children are too lucrative as prisoners. I believe in the advocacy work that CDF does, but I get frustrated, because I feel like education reform and policy changes have to be compounded with a serious, organized effort to affect the finances of these mega corporations that profit from the privatization of prisons. Every day, Blacks in America spend trillions of dollars, many of us, without regard to who or what those dollars benefit. I believe that adding a financial disruption of these institutions to current efforts to make them better for children, would yield great results. Low-income Black communities could greatly benefit from large teachings of cooperative economics and the power of a dollar in this country. I think this is the perfect pairing. And I think it would make a great blow in the side of the prison system.
ReplyDeleteYesterday while I was substituting a 7th grade I saw one of my students arrested in front of the whole class for getting into a fight the previous day; something that she revealed to me during the course of the class block. I had have not felt that helpless and heartbroken in quite awhile. I do not see arresting or imprisoning children for minor offenses as productive in the lease. This article was really good because I do think that recognizing children up to 18 as still developmentally being children is so important, especially in terms of certain types of prosecution. It is important for us to not only recognize the nefarious nature of the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and the ways in which our black and brown children are commodified as opportunities for making money. It is our responsibility to protect them as well as their opportunity to be children.
ReplyDeleteThis article really highlights the concerns with charging teens as adults. Having worked with children of all ages, it is difficult to wrap my mind around the idea of sending one of those kids to prison for a crime as an adult when some days they are struggling to remember basic things. How often do my students forget their lunch in the classroom on the way to lunch? How often do they forget where they put their belongings five minutes ago?
ReplyDeleteIt also stuck out to me that children who are in adult prisons are more susceptible to abuse and are more likely to commit suicide. At a young age children should not be in a prison with adults who have made decisions with a fully developed mind. I once visited a prison in California while I was part of a civic engagement organization. The goal was to essentially discuss the realities of the prison the cradle pipeline. I didn't know that's what it was called at the time, as I was not a part of the Freedom Schools movement yet. The structure of the prison, the individuals we saw, and the stories we heard are not a place where a child can grow, change, and flourish.
I completely agree with you Tristan on the fact that children are just that, children and are constantly in need of redirection. I had a student this year that came form a school where a negative and violent culture was not dealt with in effective ways leading to many poor choices made by students and teachers ineffectively reprimanding them. When she entered our positive reinforcement, incentive driven friendly school it was a culture shock. She started off exhibiting that which she was used to, negatively speaking to peers, hitting other etc. When we had a CTJ meeting and the expectation for her to assimilate to the culture of her new school was expressed, she did just that (for a while, realistically speaking). It was great for the better portion of the year, which tells me that when you want a behavior change for the positive, you must engulf the child in an atmosphere that is filled with that positivity you wish for them to demonstrate. It also tells me that simply immersing the child in a positive atmosphere is not enough, extensive counseling should be considered to get to the root of the issue as well. With an atmosphere change and rehabilitative counseling I think our children can make a successful turn around.
DeleteJessikha, I completely agree. This is truly a conspiracy, a new form of slavery. I was thinking today about how I haven't yet visited a prison. My parents had always told me to be grateful about that, but I now find myself wanting to see for myself the effects of mass incarceration, so that I can really realize how real it is. I read about it in articles such as these, I get shocked and angered that our young scholars are victimized and oppressed, but it won't be until I walk into a prison and realize how they've enslaved so many people of color under the guise of "law" that I can really say that I'm aware. The fact that this injustice is happening in New York, a city that proclaims itself as being the capital of the world, the evolved and progressive one, shows how backwards our nation can be. I live in New York City, and as much as there are things I adore about it, I also know that it is a microcosm of the American greed, capitalism, and corruption that I so often rant about. This has prompted me to seek to open up a Freedom Schools at my graduate university. I would want scholars from Harlem and college students from Harlem to be on the front lines of political and social activism and shed light on the fact that any one under 18 deserves their right to be treated as youth, and not as an adult. They need to be educated on these cycles of oppression, and realize that they deserve to be treated humanely. NYC can be a change-agent if it chooses to, but it will take grassroots work. It won't be the people at the top who will be willing to change unless it serves their political agendas. We can't trust what legislators, mayors or governors say they will do. We have to trust what they actually do. In the meantime, we must continue to educate. NYC has this incarceration of youth issue, and California is building jail cells based on the test scores of black boys in the 3rd grade. The two states on both ends of the country also are some of the richest states in the country... coincidence? I think not. We have been awakened to this, and we must continue to awaken others.
ReplyDeleteI hate how children are treated in the juvenile justice system. The same people who have to raise their hands and take a pass in the hallway to go to the bathroom, who have to have permission to go a field trip, who cannot vote or buy cigarettes can be charged as adults. That's not justice. Then when they get out of the system and reenter society and have no skills they usually end up committing other offenses. People use this as evidence that they are criminals completely ignoring the fact that it it s the system that failed them by not rehabilitating them and also often by not providing healthy activities for the child to be apart of that would help take away some of the temptation to be involved in illegal activities.
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