Brownsville's Senator Determined To #RaiseTheAge For Offenders To Be Tried As Adults

This article is by Kings County Politics in partnership with Patch:

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — State Sen. Jesse Hamilton, who represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, South Slope and Sunset Park, has entered the state legislative session with a renewed commitment to criminal justice reform, in particular to raise the age from 16 to 18 for those charged with crimes between those ages to be tried as adults instead of youth offenders.

New York continues to be the only state other than North Carolina that prosecutes all youth as adults when they turn 16 years old. Statistics point out this adversely impacts people of color to a much larger degree than whites.

"Equal justice under law" is emblazoned on our United States Supreme Court Building," Hamilton wrote in his email newsletter. "We have yet more work to do to bring those words to life. For far too many New Yorkers, when they encounter the justice system they do not receive equal justice."

"We know that young people are brutalized by uniformly putting them through a justice system designed for adults. We know that adolescent brains are not fully developed. And we know that the life chances of young people put through our justice system are severely impacted by this policy. That's part of the reason 48 other states have taken a different path than New York. It is time for us to bring our justice system up to the high standard "equal justice under law" demands.

"Time to #RaisetheAge in New York State. I will join my Senate colleagues in efforts to pass legislation to raise the age of criminal responsibility in NY to 18. Our young people deserve better."

Photo via Kings County Politics