The Ethical Dimension Within Proposed Legislation of Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility
Andrew Lucks
Baruch College
Abstract
This paper will explore the ethical dimension within the proposed legislation of Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility. Raising The Age of criminal responsibility refers to the idea and/or belief that all people prosecuted in the adult criminal justice system should be above the age of 18. This paper will specifically look at how certain jurisdictions within the US have raised the age of criminal responsibility and its benefits, how youth currently go through and get processed within the Juvenile and Adult systems, historically how have youth been treated…show more content… In the 1850s, a network of non-profits were contracted to work with juveniles that were either delinquint, abused, homeless, and or troubled. This was a precursor to what modern foster care looks like. In the 1920s, non-profits contracted to manage detention facilities in Lower Manhattan and Welfare Island. In the 1950's, New York City proceeded to the Manida and Spofford Juvenile Detention Centers. In 1901, the City Charter created one of the nations first childrens court system. This will be important to note, as later in this paper we will discuss differences between courts within the adult system, and its equivilent in the juvenile system. In 1924 this children's court was expanded statewise. Beginning in the 1970's with the rise of the so called “superpredator”, states passed laws bringing youth below the age of 18 under the jurisdiction of the adult courts. Recently however, there has been a national push for raising the age of criminal responsibility so that the adult jurisdiction would begin at the age of 18 rather than at
