North Carolina: Building with Union County Judicial Center on front

Why Did North Carolina Raise the Age in 2017?

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — With Raise the Age taking effect in less than a month, North Carolina is preparing to receive new 16- and 17-year-old offenders into the juvenile system. 

The state has not increased its juvenile age since 1919. Revamping juvenile justice has been in discussion since the 1990s, but the legislature sidestepped raising the age. The reform passed two years ago. So what about North Carolina circa 2017 led to the passage of raise the age? Recent research on juvenile crime gave the legislation factual legitimacy, while pressure from being the only state to still prosecute 16- and 16-year-olds as adults gave the bill political momentum. 

Some credit goes to former state Chief Justice Mark Martin.

New York: Man with beard, mustache in blue shirt talks to woman.

With Plunging Crime Rate, New York Experts Dreaming Big

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When the moderator informally polled the audience at a criminal justice discussion held at the New York Law School on whether probation and parole should be abolished, almost half the audience — mostly criminal justice practitioners and stakeholders — raised their hands.

raise the age: Young people sit in small courtroom.

New York Raise The Age Is Making Strides Where It Counts

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Four days after New York’s new Raise the Age law began to be implemented in October, I was fortunate to be invited to observe the Youthpart in Brooklyn. The Youthpart is a hybrid court that was created to address 16- and 17-year-olds charged with felonies.

New York City: Abandoned interior of a jail

How New York City Achieved an Historic Drop in Youth Detention Admissions

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This year has been one of the most transformative years in history for New York’s juvenile justice system. Just a month after one of New York’s most groundbreaking juvenile justice reforms, Raise the Age, became a reality, New York City took a wrecking ball to the decades-old Spofford Juvenile Detention Centers in the Bronx.

raise the age: person in jeans, blue shirt sitting with hands cuffed behind back

After Raise the Age, Where Will NY’s Adolescent Offenders Go?

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On Oct. 1, the first phase of a New York state law known as “Raise the Age” took effect, meaning 16-year-olds can no longer be arrested or tried as adults. A year from now, the law will extend to 17-year-olds as well.