Via the New York Times
For the second year in a row, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has proposed raising the age of the state’s Family Court jurisdiction to 18 from 16. If that legislation fails again this year, it will leave New York and North Carolina as the only states where people age 16 and older can be tried as an adult and, if incarcerated, locked up in adult prisons and jails. (In New York, children as young as 13 must be tried in adult court for certain charges, like murder.)
Not only are these states trailing most of the country in this area, but they are also in danger of falling even further behind. Connecticut and Illinois — both of which recently raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18 (in 2012 and 2014, respectively) — are now considering raising the age to 21. In the 116-year history of the juvenile court, no United States system has ever gone above age 18, so two states considering it simultaneously is remarkable.
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