[NYAPRS Enews] NYS Senate Appears Ready to Join Gov, Assembly on Raise the Age!

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Gallivan Optimistic On Raise The Age Agreement
By Nick Niedzwiadek  Politico  March 27, 2017



ALBANY — Sen. Pat Gallivan said Monday that budget negotiations over raising the age of criminal responsibility for juveniles are still ongoing, but he is optimistic there will be an agreement in time for this week’s budget deadline.

New York and North Carolina are the only two states who try people as young as 16 or 17 as adults for nonviolent offenses. It has become a priority issue for Democrats, one that the Republican-controlled Senate is open to — provided it does not risk public safety.

“That’s the threshold issue,” Gallivan, the head of the Senate's Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections committee, told reporters after a press conference opposing the merger of youth and state psychiatric facilities in Western New York.

Republicans are concerned that the proposals by the governor’s office and the Democratic-controlled Assembly are too permissive of what is considered nonviolent, and therefore eligible for Family Court adjudication.

“The violent crimes, and violent criminals, and violent individuals are people that prey upon our communities and those we rightfully should be afraid of,” he said. "Many of us believe there should be some level of accountability, which in some cases includes prison sentences.”

Gallivan, along fellow GOP Sens. Andrew Lanza of Staten Island and Cathy Young of Olean, met with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Friday to talk through their differences. On Monday, Heastie said there is still work to be done if it is to be included in the budget.

“We’re talking,” he said. “It’s better, but I don’t know its where we want it to be.”

Heastie and fellow Assembly members have been adamant about having the “presumption” that nonviolent cases originate in Family Court, rather than Criminal Court. Law enforcement groups and the state’s district attorneys are pushing to have more input into such decisions.

There has been some chatter about the possibility that raise the age, along with issues like legalizing ride-hailing upstate, could be jettisoned if an agreement is not reached in order to meet the budget deadline.

Republican Sen. Kemp Hannon earlier Monday said that such a “bare bones” spending plan would be up to Cuomo.

“That’s up to the governor to figure out if it’s bare bones, flesh and bones, no bones, extender — he has a new phrase every day,” Hannon said.
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