'Raise the Age' advocates form coalition ahead of Senate vote
'No more delays, let's follow the science, let's follow the data. Vermont can show the United States that we can be smart on crime by treating youth like youth,' said Dr. Nikhil Goyal, a Sociologist at The University of Vermont and a former Bernie Sanders Policy Advisor.
Advocates launched the 'Treat Youth Like Youth Coalition' on Wednesday morning in support of a 'Raise the Age' second phase. It includes raising the maximum age for juvenile offenses from 18 to 19 and increasing the minimum age at which children can be charged with juvenile offenses from 10 to 12.
The expansion bill has seen pushback from enforcement agencies since the original law passed in 2018. In January Governor Phil Scott, who says the law does not provide enough accountability and has led to an increase in crime, called for a repeal of the expansion entirely.
'Another delay, especially without addressing the concerns raised numerous times already, could negatively impact youth within our justice system,' said Jordan Souder, an ACLU Vermont Policy Advisor.
According to Dr. Goyal, the House version of H.2 would delay parts of the bill from going into effect until 2027. State senator Tanya Vyhovsky, says she believes continuing to put young people into an adult prison system does more harm than good.
'We are going to pay for the adjudication of 18 and 19-year-olds one way or another. We either do it through a trauma informed treatment based family court system, where these young people get the support they need to change the path they are on, or we can do it it through the Department of Corrections and warehouse them into a traumatizing system that is not built to meet their needs or set them on the right path forward,' she said.
The state senator, who has a background as a clinical social worker, says there are plans to fight for the law in the senate. Other speakers offered similar concerns, urging people to call their lawmakers to support raising the age.
Testimony on the bill has already begun and the deadline is April 1. Lawmakers would have to repeal or delay the bill before then, otherwise 'Raise the Age' will go into effect.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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New York Post
12 hours ago
- New York Post
Thug who's terrorized NYC since he was 14 still getting breaks thanks to Raise the Age Law
A 21-year-old gun-toting thug has been terrorizing Staten Island for years thanks to the state's Raise the Age Law — notching even attempted-slay raps before netting anything close to real punishment, law-enforcement sources say. Lloyd Francis was first busted at age 14 and has now been arrested a half-dozen times on attempted-murder, robbery, assault and felony gun-possession charges. Yet before before being convicted of his sixth serious crime last month, Francis — a suspected member of the local Town Savages Only gang — had served a total of about two years behind bars because of the Empire State's lax juvenile justice statutes, according to records and sources. 3 Lloyd Francis, 21, has been in and out of handcuffs since he was 14 — but state law has given him break after break. Obtained by the NY Post The same coddling laws ensure that half of his arrests are sealed, too, meaning their details and dispositions are kept from public scrutiny. Francis was finally hit with a 10-year prison term after being convicted of his second attempted-murder charger earlier this year. But even then, the sentence was just a fraction of the 25 years he could have faced if he hadn't been considered a juvenile in the earlier cases. 'Are we trying to rehabilitate or walk them off the side of a cliff?' a disgusted law-enforcement sources said of the loopy Raise the Age Law. 'There's no hope for this kid,'' the source said. 'If you're picking up your first attempted-murder at 14 and you're doing 10 years for your second at 19, you're on your way to life.' The New York youth statute, which was implemented in two stages in 2017 and 2018, raised the age of criminal responsibility in the state to 18 and allowed defendants as old as 21 to be held at juvenile facilities. Before, suspects as young as 16 could be automatically tried in adult criminal court. On the heels of Raise the Age, state lawmakers also adopted measures that prohibited judges from setting bail on nearly all criminal cases, save for the most violent felonies. Despite several tweaks spearheaded by Gov. Kathy Hochul, most crimes remain ineligible for bail. 3 Francis, 21, has been terrorizing Staten Island since he was 14, law-enforcement sources said. Martin Raab – Francis has benefited from the statute since his first arrest in 2019, when at age 14 he was charged with attempted murder for a stabbing on Staten Island, law enforcement sources said. He was convicted and served just over a year behind bars. He was then later charged with felony gun possession in a separate case, sources said. Francis was able to plead down to attempted weapons possession and netted another roughly a year in a juvenile facility, sources said. Once back on the streets, after at least two more sealed arrests, he was charged with second degree criminal possession of a weapon but released because the charge is not eligible for bail under the state's criminal justice reforms. While that case was still pending, Francis shot a man in the chest at a local park and convicted of his second attempted-murder rap. Both the weapons charge and second attempted-murder charge could have put him away for up to 25 years. The district attorney's office prosecuted the gun case in the Youth Part of Supreme Court — which would count toward his record and make him a predicate felon if he's busted again. But his lawyers appealed the gun prosecution — and won. The Appellate Division court, citing the state youth statute, said the facts of the gun case did not meet the 'extraordinary circumstances' that legislators required to keep the case out of the more lenient Family Court. 'In effect, the Youth Part treated a single re-arrest — absent a conviction — as dispositive of the defendant's future potential,' the ruling said. 'That reasoning, if broadly applied, would undermine the core purpose of the Raise the Age legislation. 3 Mahoney Playground on Staten Island is one of a half-dozen sites where Francis has been arrested. Google 'The mere fact that an adolescent engaged in rehabilitative services and was later arrested, without more, does not constitute 'strong proof' that he or she is beyond the reach if the Family Court system,' the judicial panel wrote. The ruling signaled that the gun case essentially disappeared from Francis's record, paving the way for him to get less prison time on the attempted-murder charge. Francis' public-defender lawyers declined to comment, referring questions about the case to the Appellate Advocates of the New York State Defenders Association, which did not respond to a request, either. In addition, the state Office of Court Administration, which oversees the court system, did not respond to a request for comment from The Post. Francis is serving his 10-year sentence at the upstate Elmira Correctional Facility. In an op-ed piece in The Post Saturday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch railed against 'the tragic unintended consequences' that the state's youth law has had on crime. Between 2018, when the law was enacted, and last year, the number of youths arrested with guns in the Big Apple have spiked by 136%, and the number of juvenile gunshot victims has jumped 81%, the commissioner said. 'With no actual repercussions or adult authority, young offenders aren't using repeated forgiveness for their crimes to learn mature judgment,' Tisch wrote. 'They're escalating to more reckless violence — perpetuating feuds to enhance their own status.'
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Shocking number of teens are victims and perpetrators under 'Raise the Age' law
Every day the Raise the Age law stands is another day of mourning for Julia Verona, whose 14-year-old son was fatally stabbed outside a McDonald's in Queens, allegedly by another teen. The law changed how teens are treated in New York's criminal justice system, increasing the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, often funneling more violent cases to the state's family courts and resulting in reduced sentences when compared to adult suspects. The teens involved in the brawl that resulted in her son Julian Corniell's death are still in the neighborhood, she said. 12 The teens involved with Julian Corniell's death are still in the neighborhood, his mother said. Brigitte Stelzer/copyphoto 'I have to go to therapy for that every Saturday because it makes me very angry,' Verona told The Post. 'They're still outside, I've seen them with my own eyes. They still go to that McDonald's like nothing ever happened.' 'They should change [the law] – they should make it more serious, because these kids are out there continuing to do the same thing,' Verona said. Verona, 36, said she wished the name of her son's alleged 16-year-old killer would be released, and that the rest of the teens present would face some kind of consequence. 12 'They should change [the law] – they should make it more serious, because these kids are out there continuing to do the same thing,' Julia Verona, Corniell's mother, said. Brigitte Stelzer 'The way that family court takes care of things…it's not serious enough. They have more protections for these criminals.' In July 2022, 11-year-old Kyhara Tay was shot and killed outside a nail salon in the Bronx by two teens on a moped — with then 18-year-old Omar Bojang driving and then 15-year-old Matthew Godwin pulling the trigger, authorities said. The two were looking for a rival, 13-year-old gang member when they killed Kyhara, whose parents slammed the Raise the Age law as having protected Bojang, who had a previous rap sheet that included gun-related incidents. 12 11-year-old Kyhara Tay was shot and killed outside a nail salon in the Bronx by two teens on a moped. Godwin was sentenced in April to 10 years to life behind bars, while Bojang was sentenced to 15 years in May. 'You were carrying a gun as an adult, trying to kill someone as an adult, then you should be charged as an adult,' Kyhara's devastated mom, Yahisha Gomez, told The Post. 'Just a little slap on the wrist and they are coming out thinking they could commit more crimes. They know the consequences are not as severe…they don't think about the family,' dad Sokpini Tay said. Yanely Henriquez lost her 16-year-old daughter Angellyh Yambo on April 8, 2022, when 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan opened fire with a ghost gun on the street in the Bronx as University Prep Charter High School, where Yambo was a straight-A student, let out. Yambo was caught in the crossfire and shot in the back. Ryan was sentenced in September 2023 to 15 years to life. 12 Angellyh Yambo was caught in the crossfire when 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan opened fire with a ghost gun, and was shot in the back. Facebook/Gordo Manuel Yambó 'If you commit a crime, you must be [treated as] an adult,' the mom demanded. 'This is why these kids are doing whatever they want, because they know they are just getting a slap on their hands. If you have a gun to use, you need to be an adult and face the consequences for your actions.' Here are examples of teenagers allegedly killed by other teenagers so far in 2025: Times Square shooting A 17-year-old allegedly opened fire in Times Square last week, striking three people — including an 18-year-old tourist from Maryland as she rode in an Uber with her siblings and parents, according to police. The bullet grazed the tourist's neck. 'We heard gunshots,' the teen victim's mom later told The Post. 'My daughter was holding her neck. She was bleeding…It's a very horrific experience.' 12 Police at the scene where three people were shot on W44th Street near Seventh Avenue in the Times Square section of New York on August 9. Christopher Sadowski The accused gunman, identified as Jayden Clarke, had gotten into an argument with a Citibike rider inside of the Raising Cane's restaurant on Broadway around 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, and decided to settle the beef by leaving the eatery and opening fire, according to police sources. Cops recovered a .380-caliber Glock 42 from his waistband at the scene. Clarke pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault and reckless endangerment and weapons charges and was ordered held on $200,000 bail. 12 The accused Times Square gunman, identified as Jayden Clarke, pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder. Michael Nagle Bronx beatdown On Aug. 5, two young teens — just 15-and 16-years-old — were arrested and charged with murder and gang assault in the vicious beating and fatal stabbing of Angel Mendoza, a 14-year-old who was hanging with friends at the Williamsbridge Oval Playground in Norwood. Cell phone video taken by the boy's suspected attackers shows the pack zeroing in on him before smashing him 'in the face with a Taurus 9mm pistol' and then repeatedly striking and kicking him on 'his head, face and body,' according to court documents and police sources. 12 Angel Mendoza, 14, was hanging with friends at the Williamsbridge Oval Playground in Norwood when he was attacked and killed. family handout 12 A memorial for Angel Mendoza, in Williamsbridge Oval, Bronx, NY. J.C. Rice The two teens, among four suspects arrested in Mendoza's killing, have not been identified because of their ages, and will likely be tried in the youth part of Bronx Criminal Court. Andrew Ansah and Jordan Williams, both 18, were charged with the same raps in the case. They will be tried in Bronx Criminal Court. Mendoza was not in a gang and had no previous run-ins with police, said his family, who hid his shoes to keep him home and out of trouble. Stray bullet slaying A 14-year-old gang member allegedly opened fire near a Morrisania schoolyard around 5 p.m. on May 12 — killing 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey as she rode her scooter, authorities said. The babyfaced gunman is believed to have fired his weapon after a fistfight broke out between his friends and rival gangbangers as they left the Bronx playground at 800 Home Street. Evette had celebrated her first anniversary with her boyfriend, also 16, with a date at a Chinese buffet, relatives said. The young couple were on their way home when the gunshots rang out, with a bullet striking her in the head. 12 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey was shot and killed as she rode her scooter after a 14-year-old gang member allegedly opened fire near a Morrisania schoolyard, authorities said. Robert Miller 12 Police officers responding to the scene were they found Evette Jeffrey unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head. Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Her accused killer, who authorities said had already racked up a previous assault charge on his rap sheet, pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge and was ordered held without bail. Evette's grandmother told The Post she would 'never forgive' the alleged teen killer. 'I hold your family responsible because they should be watching you,' she sobbed. McDonald's stabbing An after school brawl among a large group of teens on Valentine's Day ended in tragedy in Sunnyside, when Julian Corniell, 14, was fatally stabbed at a McDonald's on Queens Boulevard. 12 Corniell was stabbed outside a McDonald's in Queens, allegedly by another teen. James Messerschmidt A 16-year-old was charged with murder for allegedly whipping out a knife and plunging it into the left side of Corniell's torso. The boy collapsed and later died at Weill Cornell Medical Center, while his alleged killer was held without bail in March. Julia Verona described her only son as a 'brilliant' and 'very fun little boy,' who loved to play video games and soccer. Coney Island murder A 13-year-old boy with at least one prior arrest for assault was charged with second-degree murder as an adult for the January 2023 stabbing of a 17-year-old in Brooklyn's Coney Island. 12 Nyheem Wright was killed in front of his twin brother in a parking lot. Facebook Nyheem Wright was killed in front of his twin brother in a parking lot, during an after-school fight over a girl, police said. The suspect was charged as a 'juvenile offender,' a component of the Raise the Age law which results in a maximum sentence of nine years to life if convicted of the top charges — compared to an adult, who in the same circumstance could get a max of 25 years to life. Another two teens were arrested at the time, one 15 and one as young as 14, for their role in the slaying. Nyheem's mother, Simone Brooks, told The Post his stricken sibling, Raheem, 'stayed with his twin brother the whole time,' trying to help him — before watching him die.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Staying Juvenile: ‘Raise the Age' is killing New York kids
Last week, 14-year-old Angel Mendoza was fatally stabbed in a Bronx playground by a group of teens. His 15-year-old friend Yasmin found him dying. In the days since, a 13-year-old was stabbed by a 14-year-old in Queens, and a 17-year-old shot at a rival teen in Times Square, hitting tourists. Unfortunately, these are not anomalies. By last year, the number of youths arrested with guns had risen 136% since New York State's 'Raise the Age' legislation began to take effect in 2018. And tragically, the number of juvenile shooting victims grew 81%. Indeed, the proportion of all our city's shooting victims who are children has approximately doubled since 2018. Why? 3 Angel Mendoza, 14, was fatally stabbed in a Bronx playground by a group of teens last week. In the days since, a 13-year-old was fatally stabbed by a 14-year-old in Queens, and a 17-year-old shot at a rival teen in Times Square. Brigitte Stelzer Because the criminal justice process under RTA allows too many violent teens to cycle through the system, unchallenged, back to playgrounds and reckless shoot-outs with few, if any, repercussions. The law substantially increased the rate at which criminal cases for teenagers are diverted to Family Court, and in so doing, significantly decreased the likelihood of meaningful accountability for even serious crimes. Sadly, when kids commit crimes, the victims are often other kids. This means more young lives cut short. And it incentivizes adults to put weapons in the hands of younger gang members who risk fewer consequences. I have no doubt that 'Raise the Age' was well-intentioned; but the tragic unintended consequences harm the very children our lawmakers seek to help. They must amend it. Every day brings new proof that RTA is failing its objective of diverting vulnerable youths from their criminal trajectory. Under RTA, juvenile gun arrests have reached a quarter-century peak, with 486 arrests last year. Young felony assault victims also hit an 18-year peak of 2,451. And juvenile murder arrests have nearly quadrupled, from eight in 2017 to 30 in 2024. 3 NYC mayor Eric Adams and NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch (pictured) announced the expansion of the Q Team, a quality of life division of the NYPD, into Queens at a press conference in the Astoria Houses on Aug. 11, 2025. Stephen Yang for the New York Post All this while 2025 has broken records for the lowest number of shootings and shooting victims in the first half of the year. Our city's safety wins are not extending to our children—and that is as unconscionable as it is preventable. Nor has RTA achieved its stated goal of ameliorating racial disparity. In 2017, 72 Black and Hispanic youths were shot – compared to just three white victims. By last year, the number of juvenile Black and Hispanic victims skyrocketed to 114 (58% rise); white victims decreased…to zero. That's because, rather than actually focusing on the outcomes of each kid, RTA created a convoluted chutes-and-ladders of juvenile justice – in which authority figures operate blind. Youths now shuttle from arrest through criminal court, family court, probation, and detention without any adult in these agencies getting a full view of their journey – let alone whether a child is actually reforming his or her behavior. RTA removed from vulnerable teen offenders the one thing they needed most: adult oversight. Instead, they cycle pinball-style through family court and other avenues of diversion and return immediately to terrorizing younger kids. Simultaneously, social media and drill rap have grown exponentially since RTA passed. This means youths now always track each other, advertising where they are, what violence they've committed, and how the courts freed them yet again. When a 15-year-old arrested for robbery has his case removed to family court and ultimately dismissed, his classmates all know he's immediately back in school with no consequences. But the prosecutors assigned his case are blocked from knowing how it resolved. Our officers who arrested and charged him are also prohibited from finding out what happened. And tragically, even victims can't find out. 3 Jayden Clarke, 17, seen handcuffed at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Aug. 10, 2025, ahead of his arraignment for allegedly shooting three people in Times Square. Michael Nagle Worst of all, when the same teen is arrested for a gunpoint robbery next month, the judge he stands before won't be allowed to know about his previous cases. Nor will prosecutors or cops. But the young offender will be bragging about it online. RTA rules make it very difficult to responsibly keep dangerous youths in the criminal system. According to recent New York State court data, among 16- and 17-year-old offenders, around 83% of felonies and 75% of violent felonies now roll gently over to family court, where there are limited consequences. This thwarts one of the system's key functions of satisfying victims. Instead, the desire for redress too often spills over into gang retribution. And with no actual repercussions or adult authority, young offenders aren't using repeated forgiveness for their crimes to learn mature judgment. They're escalating to more reckless violence – perpetuating feuds to enhance their own status. And due to social media, gang members know where their rivals are with GPS-accuracy. More than half of juvenile shootings now happen outside of shooters' home precincts. Compare that to NYPD officers, who are legally blocked from knowing where violent teens are. Our cops cannot even access whether an arrestee is in custody or out loose. How can we keep kids safe? As a mother of 10- and 13-year-old boys and the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, I am certain that we must put the actual lives and safety of our children above our good intentions. New York legislators must return adult authority and oversight to juvenile justice before more kids get killed.
