Cuomo Wants To Keep Juveniles Out Of Adult Prison

Governor Andrew Cuomo has revised his proposal for retooling New York's criminal justice system to keep juveniles out of adult prisons and jails. Draft legislation in his budget for the coming year would send most 16- and 17-year-olds to new youth sections of state criminal courts instead of family courts. Under Cuomo's latest proposal, some juvenile defendants could go to family court should prosecutors agree. Such a move could eventually require 700 more beds at secure juvenile-detention centers. New York and North Carolina are the only states that prosecute 16 and 17-year-olds as adults.