NY Governor Andrew Cuomo
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo will also be delivering his annual state of the state address Wednesday afternoon, before the state senate and assembly in Albany.
Prior to the speech, the governor has been slowly rolling out his 2015 Agenda, which he calls his “Opportunity Agenda.” On Monday, he used Martin Luther King Day as a platform to announce a plan to reform the juvenile justice system.
Cuomo presented a report from his Commission on Youth, which recommends raising the age of when a juvenile can be tried as an adult to 18. Currently its 16. The increase would be phased in over a two year period – first to 17 and then to 18 beginning in the year 2018. The commission feels it would help to reduce the number of minors who are sent to prison as well as cut back on recidivism rates.
Among its other recommendations, the report calls for the creation of new youth courts to deal with criminal cases involving offenders younger than 18. The report also calls for allowing the records of most youthful offenders to be sealed if they don’t re-offend, although records of violent felonies committed by anyone 16 or older could be unsealed and used as a predicate in sentencing for any subsequent violent felony. Sex offenses, violent and Class A felonies, and homicides would not be eligible to be sealed.
In addition, the age when juvenile jurisdiction could apply would shift from age 7 to 12, although the age at which murder could be dealt with in the juvenile courts would remain 10. The report noted that only about 4 percent of all delinquency petitions in the state involve children younger than 12.
The announcement on Monday is part of nearly a dozen agenda items that the governor has focused on during the past two weeks. Other agenda items include property tax cuts, new policies to fight sexual abuse on campus, broadband expansion, increasing financial aid resources for low income New Yorkers and a new initiative to assist students burdened by college debt.
On Monday, the governor also outlined a proposal to create a commission that will decide on salary increases for lawmakers and top state officials.
The state of the state address will also feature Cuomo’s rollout of his 2015-16 executive budget, which the state legislature will then review and finalize, ideally before the April 1 deadline.
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