By: David Howard King

A classic battle between law-and-order Republicans and progressive Democrats is brewing in the state Legislature as Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushes adoption of the recommendations of his Commission on Youth Public Safety and Justice – recommendations that include raising the age at which teens can be tried as adults.

Despite being thought of as one of the most progressive states in the nation, New York is one of just two in the country that try 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. (The other is North Carolina.)

“You put a 16- and 17-year-old into a state prison, there is no way they’re not going to come out worse than they went in,” Cuomo said over the phone to those gathered for a Martin Luther King Day event hosted by Al Sharpton.

Many of the state’s most prominent law enforcement officials and criminal justice experts have advocated raising the age of adult criminality for some time…

Originally posted on Gotham Gazette

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