Judging Children As Adults

To read the Letter in the New York Times click here

Re “A Better System for Young Offenders” (editorial, June 17):

I applaud the efforts of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to think out of the box and create a cost-effective alternative to ensure that low-risk young offenders are not unnecessarily detained.

New York is woefully behind the rest of the country on juvenile justice reform and is one of only three states where 16-year-olds are automatically tried in the adult criminal justice system and afforded no juvenile court protections.

It seems contradictory that our state laws prohibit 16-year-olds from, for example, drinking and smoking, in part because adolescents often lack the developmental maturity to make decisions that take into account future consequences.

Yet we put these same 16-year-olds in an adult justice system, forcing them to make decisions that may have a lifelong negative effect on their ability to obtain jobs, housing or an education.

It is time to stop locking up and then locking out at-risk youths from our communities.

Laurie Parise
New York, June 17, 2008