Posted: January 26th, 2011 | by Yuval Sheer

On January 26, 2011, we had the opportunity to urge New York City and New York State to coordinate their approaches to Juvenile Justice Reform. Judge Corriero, in testimony before the New York City Council, stated:

“The Governor’s plan and the City’s plan are steps in the right direction but should be viewed in the context of an overarching strategy to transform Juvenile Justice in New York….Whatever differences exist between the City and State’s approach to Juvenile Justice Reform, they should be reconciled in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation which moves us closer to attaining true systemic reform of our system, consistent with a model of Juvenile Justice that recognizes the true value of children in a democratic society.”

Judge Corriero added:

There cannot be true systemic reform of New York’s Juvenile Justice System unless New York sets a fair, rational, and just age of criminal responsibility. This is a fundamental issue impacting, last year alone, a staggering 46,129 young New Yorkers (including 977 thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen year olds). 46,129 missed opportunities to intervene effectively—46,129 youth who could have benefited from developmentally sensitive alternative programs solely available in the family court.

The full testimony of Judge Corriero is available below.

We want to thank Roberto Ragone for his insight with respect to the presentation to the New York City Council and Olivia Rosenthal for her writing and research input.

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