Juvenile Justice in New York State: The Criminal Age of Responsibility

The panelists discuss the present practice, relevant law and legislative reforms surrounding the issue of the age of criminal responsibility in New York. New York is one of only two states that sets the age of criminal responsibility as low as sixteen years old. What the present state of the law is, how it affects the defense and prosecution of children, what it requires of the court system and its impact on the criminal justice system will be presented by the panelists. Recently proposed legislation seeking to alter New York’s juvenile justice system treatment of juvenile and youth offenders, and the practical ways lawyers and the courts can address the laws and policy governing the juvenile justice system will also be discussed.

Panelist include: Hon. Michael A. Corriero, Executive Director and Founder of the New York Center for Juvenile Justice; J. Soffiyah Elijah, Esq., Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York; Hon. Kathleen Hogan, District Attorney, Warren County; Elsie Chandler, Esq., Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Youth Law Project at Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem; Hon. Kathleen DeCataldo, Executive Director, Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children; Nancy Ginsburg, Esq., Director, Adolescent Intervention and Diversion Project, The Legal Aid Society. Moderator, William J. Leahy, Esq., Director of the New York State Office of Indigent Legal Services.