“Sixteen- and 17-year-olds would be treated as juveniles rather than adults in New York’s criminal justice system under a series of policy changes Gov. Andrew Cuomo embraced today.

The recommendations, if passed by the New York State Legislature, would mark a major shift in the state’s criminal justice system.

…The new rules would allow more options for expunging or sealing criminal convictions for younger defendants… Raising the age to qualify as an adult criminal to 18 would require building and opening new facilities throughout the state to house younger people charged with misdemeanors and felonies, according to the report from the state’s Commission on Youth, Public Safety and Justice. It would also require hiring more judges to handle the new types of cases.

Removing lifetime criminal convictions from young people’s records — and getting them out of incarceration at an early age — eventually can drive down overall criminal conviction rates and prison costs to taxpayers, according to the commission’s findings. That long-term shift is part of the goal of advocates for “Raise the Age,” the key concept explored in the report.”

Cuomo: Treat 16, 17 as children, not adults, in NY criminal justice system, Syracuse.com, January 19, 2015