Courtney M. McSwain and Alyson Clements
The Nation Juvenile Justice Network’s campaign to increase the age a child can be detained, committed, or prosecuted, – more broadly characterized as minimum age laws – continues to yield critical wins. In 2020, 18 states introduced minimum age legislation. NJJN members successfully passed minimum age legislation in Connecticut,, Maine, Mississippi, New York and North Carolina, with additional legislative wins in Delaware and New Hampshire.. This month members helped to introduce legislation in Indiana and Virginia. These states join California, Massachusetts, Utah, and Nebraska who have successfully raised the age of child prosecution.
In addition to the critical policy wins gain in 2021, NJJN’s national coalition of 100 public health and youth justice advocates focused on establishing/ increasing state’s minimum ages of youth prosecution has been elevating this conversation and getting endorsements from key stakeholders like the American Bar Association Resolution and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Key Coverage:
- NY Will No Longer Prosecute Children Under The Age Of 12, The Gothamist, January 1, 2022
- Higher Age Of Juvenile Prosecution Becomes Law In NC, WUNC, August 30, 2021
- Maine Makes Significant Policy Progress, NJJN.org, August 26, 2021
- Connecticut and New York Raise Minimum Age of Prosecution, June 26, 2021
- Mississippi Raises Minimum Age of Commitment to 12, NJJN.org, March 30, 2021
Continued Momentum for Reform
The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) was pleased to see so many states introduce legislation to protect our nation’s youngest children from court involvement. The United States is an outlier in its treatment of young children. Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recommends no children under the age of 14 be processed through a criminal court. Processing and confining children in the youth legal system exposes them to damaging impacts, including physical and sexual abuse, suicide, and significant disruptions to mental and physical development. We must do better as a nation.
We applaud states for stepping up and taking the critical actions necessary to protect youth from court involvement. NJJN is committed to furthering the momentum for reform and is currently partnering with Dr. Elizabeth Sarah Barnert, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Dr. Laura S. Abrams, PhD, Chair and Professor, UCLA Luskin Social Welfare as well as members across the country to advocate for higher minimum age laws.