Juvenile Offenders in New York State, September 1, 1978 - February 29, 1980

• NCJ Number: 70194
• Author(s): J Miller
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 20 pages
• Corporate Author: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents and discusses court statistics for juvenile offenders in New York State from the inception of the 'juvenile offender' legislation on September 1, 1978, to February 29, 1980.

Abstract

The 'juvenile offender' legislation provides that youth aged 13 through 15 who commit certain violent felonies are subject to prosecution in the adult criminal court system. A mandatory sentencing structure is defined for those juveniles who are found guilty of offenses for which they are criminally responsible. Sentences range from a minimum of 1 to 3 years for certain felony convictions to a maximum of 9 years to life for murder. At any point in the prosecution process, cases can be removed to family court, where juveniles are not subject to criminal responsibility. Recent amendments allow youthful offender treatment under certain circumstances, and juveniles can be sentenced to either 5 years probation or to prison time of less than 4 years. Tables provide information on arrests by county and crime; court action by county; dispositions of indicted cases; sentences by county; lengths of detention; victims by age and county; and statewide arrests by change, indictments, dispositions, and sentences. During the 18-month period, a total of 2,099 juveniles were arrested for crimes subject to prosecution in the adult system. The number of arrests has declined consistently over the three six-month time periods examined. Much of this decline is due to more careful evaluation of arrest charges by the police. Of the 2,098 cases processed in criminal court, 35 percent were removed by family court, 13 percent were dismissed, 3 percent were pending action by the grand jury, 23 percent resulted in indictments, and 16 percent were dropped by the district attorneys. Of the 108 juveniles who were convicted and sentenced, 34 received 5 years probation under the youthful offender statute and nine were sentenced to 0 to 4 years. The most common prison sentence imposed was the minimum of 1 to 3 years. In total, 69 percent of the sentenced juveniles were ordered to serve prison time.