Rally to raise adult crime age

AS STATE lawmakers huddle over a plan to raise the age at which someone can be tried as an adult, city pols and public defenders rallied Wednesday to ramp up pressure to get it done.

New York is one of only two states — along with North Carolina — that still try children as young as 16 in the adult court system. “Prosecuting these teenagers

as adults is immoral,” said Seymour James, head of the Legal Aid Society, at a rally on the City Hall steps. “It fosters further criminality. It’s bad policy and hurts public safety.”

Gov. Cuomo is pushing for Albany to pass his “Raise the Age” proposal with the state’s budget on April 1. Previous measures have stalled in the Republican-backed state Senate.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called the change long overdue.

“A mistake made in adolescence should not burden a person for a lifetime,” she said.

Under Cuomo’s bill, 16-and 17-year-olds charged with nonviolent felonies, misdemeanors or violations would be put through Family Court instead of Criminal Court.

Legal Aid is pushing for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 18 for all crimes.

State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, the Senate’s ranking Republican, said earlier this month that he was open to “discussing” reform, but has yet to give it his blessing.