Issues: Raise the Age
The Alliance led a successful campaign to get kids out of the state’s adult criminal justice system. Connecticut had been one of only three states to try 16-year-olds as adults, even for the most minor of crimes.
Resources
RaiseTheAgeCT.org
CTJJA’s comprehensive site on this reform
Campaign for Youth Justice
National organization dedicated to ending the practice of putting kids in the adult criminal justice system.
PowerPoint on Raise the Age Implementation
Presentation outlining CTJJA’s legislative priorities on Raise the Age. PowerPoint, 483 kb
Connecticut leads national trend
Connecticut juvenile justice reform was highlighted in a national report showing that more states are making changes to keep kids out of adult courts. PDF, 6.7 MB
C4YJ Report: Jailing Juveniles
CDC Report on Juvenile Transfers to Adult System. PDF, 245.45 KB
CDC Report on Juvenile Transfers to Adult System
A report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. PDF, 245.45 KB
OJJDP Report – Juvenile Transfer Laws:
An Effective Deterrent to Delinquency? August 2008
This report, published by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, looks at transfers of juveniles to the adult system and its effects on deterring crime. Some of the report’s findings are that laws that make it easier to transfer youth to the adult system have little to no deterrent effect on juvenile crime, and that youth transferred to the adult system are more likely to re-offend than youth who committed similar crimes but remained in the juvenile system. PDF, 341.55 KB
Number of 16- and 17-year-old offenders in Connecticut. PDF, 9.1 kB
In the News
NY Times: Juvenile Justice’s Tangled Web
November 19, 2006.website
New York Times Editorial: Back Where They Belong
Gov. M. Jodi Rell vaulted Connecticut to the forefront of the juvenile justice reform movement when she signed a bill that removes 16- and 17-year-old offenders from the adult courts and puts them back into the juvenile justice system where they clearly belong. July 5, 2007.website
Action
There are still ways that Connecticut kids can end up in adult court and serve adult sentences. You can become an informed advocate by learning more about juvenile life without parole or transfer laws. You can also lend a hand in states still trying to raise their age.