A 17-year-old who was shot in one of the mass shootings in Albany on July 4 died Thursday, making an already dark night for the city even worse.
The shootings have raised concerns about how juvenile offender court cases are handled in New York state and the role of the state’s Raise the Age law. State Assemblymember Gabriella Romero, a public defender who represents Albany, joined Capital Tonight to discuss the law and the potential for changes to it.
While Romero said there are “many more conversations” to be had around the issue and she is specifically interested in seeing improvements to the funding process for youth diversion programs, she is "open" to looking into reforms to the inner workings of Raise the Age with preservation of the law’s core intent in mind.
Raise the Age increased the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 and the first phase of the law went into effect in October 2018.
“I’m really, really in support of the spirit of Raise the Age which is making sure children are treated separately from adults. Their brains are not developed in the same way as adults,” Romero said. “I do believe there could potentially be some changes to the law that potentially I would be open to.”
She went on to say, “I’m open to all avenues, I’m very open to working with all partners at all levels to make sure people are safe and we address violent behavior in our city and our state."
As for the funding issue, she is pushing for a bill sponsored by state Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, which would reform the process.
“This bill would change the funding stream for the community-based organizations that are supposed to be getting intense access to these funds for Raise the Age type programming,” she said. “When a child is arrested they are supposed to be overwhelmed with resources and programming in order to prevent further criminal activity. This bill now sponsored by Assemblymember Hevesi, would allow for community based organizations to get access to funding up front in a way that is not happening right now.”