Re-Raising the Age: Assessing Recidivism Outcomes of the Second Phase of Raise the Age Legislation in Connecticut

• In Event: Raising the Age of Juvenile Court Jurisdiction versus Transfer to Adult Criminal Court: Critical Issues

Abstract

A defining feature of the juvenile court system is the rehabilitative philosophy that conditions leniency in punishment for youths as compared to treatment in the adult court. However, the definition of “juvenile” and the protocol for adjudicating juveniles varies from state to state. While most states set the limit of juvenile court jurisdiction at 17, eight states draw the line at 16 and New York and North Carolina treat youths as juveniles only to age 15. Recent findings from an evaluation of a policy change in Connecticut that increased the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to 16 suggests juvenile court processing is preferential for this age group particularly as it relates to recidivism outcomes. A further change in this state that subsequently increased the age to 17 allows this research to assess the advantages of “drawing the line” of adulthood at 17 or 18. Specifically, this study utilizes a control group of 18 year olds not affected by the change and a classic difference in difference model to better causally isolate the impact of treating 17 year olds as juveniles or adults on recidivism outcomes.

Author

• Eric Fowler, University at Albany, SUNY