We must revitalize the youth justice system to stem the loss of our young people to gun violence leading to death and prison.
As the Bronx district attorney, I am uniquely positioned to provide an objective view and offer solutions, based on my office’s experience with youth defendants, listening to a community pleading for peace, and assisting victims of violent crime.
The landmark “Raise the Age” law was enacted in 2018 to spare adolescents the collateral consequences of a criminal record at a young age and give them a second chance. It established a Youth Part in state Supreme Court to handle 16 and 17-year-olds charged with serious felonies.
As early as 2021, I foretold there were gaps in the law and unfortunate ramifications in the Bronx — a surge of gun violence often involving a child arrested multiple times with a gun whose cases were sent to Family Court instead of the Youth Part. Ultimately, the young person was either shot or would shoot another youth.
I attended too many candlelight vigils and funerals for young people cut down by a bullet. Recently, a 17-year-old girl lay in a casket, clad in a beautiful dress that she should have worn at her senior prom.
I am saddened by children with so little hope for their future that they pick up a gun. They’re too young to vote, drink, or legally buy a gun. So, how are they getting their hands on one, and who is responsible for putting it there? We must focus on gun violence impacting youth now. A young person arrested for carrying a loaded firearm represents a final point of intervention before irreparable harm.
In 2018, we arraigned 27 youths for possession of a loaded gun. Last year, the number increased to 100. This year, there are 79 youths charged thus far. Many of these cases went to Family Court, because the law does not allow the case to remain in the Youth Part solely for gun possession.
Currently, we are prosecuting a 17-year-old boy arrested in August for shooting and wounding four kids, ages 13 to 15-years-old, stemming from a dispute on social media. The defendant previously committed a non-fatal shooting, multiple robberies, and possessed a loaded gun. These cases were adjudicated in Family Court.
We have an opportunity to curb recidivism, save lives and uplift our community by funding mental health treatment, education, and supportive programming as an alternative to incarceration. We should streamline communication in the court system, address root causes of crime, and close gaps in the Raise the Age legislation.
Presently, gun cases remain in Supreme Court if a young person “displayed” the firearm, or if “extraordinary circumstances” are present. To promote consistency and fairness, it would be helpful for the Legislature to clarify the definition of an “extraordinary circumstance” or consider a presumption of an automatic retention when there is a second gun possession case.
It’s not just the law. Since Raise the Age was enacted, the state has appropriated $1.55 billion towards implementation, supportive services, and alternative interventions. Unfortunately, only about a third of it — $468.5 million — was awarded in aid to localities for implementation and it has not been spent on ground services. New York City is ineligible and did not receive any of these funds. The Bronx should be able to access this funding given a high poverty rate and disproportionate share of the city’s crime.
To increase transparency, we should amend the Family Court Act to allow greater information sharing within the courts. Judges, prosecutors and victims are shielded from seeing the outcomes of Family Court cases. As a result, it remains unclear what services, programs or alternatives to detention were made available. Restricted access cripples the ability to appropriately address escalating recidivism among youth.
An immediate call to action is necessary. There is common ground. I will meet with all the stakeholders involved in delivering youth justice services — the courts, police, probation, correction, Department of Education, Administration for Children’s Services, the defense bar, and community-based organizations, just to name a few — to find solutions now.
Raise the Age can succeed and improve youth justice through redoubled efforts on funding, modest legislative refinement, consistent practices within the court system and improved coordination of information.
We all want our kids to thrive in safe neighborhoods and reach a promising adulthood. We raised the age, now let’s lift a generation.
Clark is the Bronx district attorney.
