New York: New York will stop prosecuting children under 12 years old for most crimes

Children under 12 years of age in New York State will not be arrested or prosecuted for most crimes starting this month. 

Children between the ages 7 and 18 were previously charged with juvenile delinquency if they had been convicted of a crime. Because of a bill signed by Democrat governor. Kathy Hocul says that children younger than 12 who have been convicted of a crime are to be referred to the local social service department rather than being prosecuted in the court system. This is according to Buffalo-based outlet WIVB.

Michael Filicetti from Niagara County told the outlet the new policy is effective immediately. “another weakening, watering down of our criminal justice system.”

“Speaking to our [social services] commissioner here, she’s taking it very seriously,” Filicetti added, “The commissioner  “reached out to us to set up a system with all the police agencies, but you can’t get around the fact that this is now an additional duty being placed on social services.”

According to Filicetti, the programs offered by social services are voluntary. This means that if a child is convicted of a crime, they don’t have to take part in them. Around 800 children below 12 years were detained in the state in 2019. 

Barry Covert, an attorney based in New York, stated to WIVB that the new policy would stop children from entering the court system for the purpose of committing a crime. “low-level crime.”

“[I’ll] give an example of petit larceny, simple trespassing – low-level offenses. You don’t want to traumatize those individuals and handcuff them and put them into the court system and bring them into jail,” Covert agreed. Covert noted that homicide is the only exception to this policy, and not other violent crimes. 

“I suspect, just like the bail reform was redone after about two years, we may see that in the future here, because there probably should be more carve-outs,” Covert. “There seem to be some clear-cut examples that will probably play out in the future, unfortunately, and the police will be handcuffed and the court system will be handcuffed and we might regret that the carve-out is so narrow that it’s only homicide offenses.”

New York State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, a Democrat, said “when you criminalize young folks at an earlier age, they’re subjected to much more trauma,” Children can be added “can only bear so much” After surviving the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill was signed into law in 2022 by the State. Sen. Jeremy Cooney (a Democrat) stated to ABC-affiliated outlet WHAM, that the legislation “prevents children from becoming entrenched in the criminal justice system,” This is an additional feature “it’s about age-appropriate responses designed to support children in need of help.”

Jim VanBrederode, an ex-police chief in Gates New York, stated to the outlet that children who have committed crimes should be held responsible and that the new policy is. “risky.”

“Over my 37-year career, I have personally witnessed and in my jurisdiction, kids getting younger and younger committing violent acts,” VanBrederode stated. “And to just make this black and white and set the age at 12 is a risky thing to do.”