Exploring the Adult Trajectories of Juvenile Offenders Processed In New York Criminal Courts

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

This panel provides the first results from exploring the “Adult Criminal Trajectories of Juvenile Offenders” data set collected by BJS. The study follows three cohorts of 16 and 17-year-olds processed in New York State’s adult courts in 1987, 1994, and 2001 through 2012. The unique characteristics of the data that make it a valuable source of information on offending and the impact of criminal justice policies include: 1) New York processes all 16 and 17-year olds as adults, effectively eliminating selection bias from the population: 2) the timing of the cohorts that coincides with the period immediately before, during, and after the “get tough” movement and 3) the data include a substantial follow-up period on each cohort ranging from 10 to 24 years and supplements the New York data with arrest records from outside of New York. The papers in this panel reflect some of the diverse and important topics that can be assessed with these data including the impact of the get tough movement on the sentencing of youth, the immediate incapacitation effects of incarcerating youth in adult prisons and the exploration of state sealing policies for broader assessments of criminal recidivism and careers.

Sub Unit

• Area VII: Criminal Justice Policy and Practice / 35: Challenging Criminal Justice Policies

Individual Presentations

• The Impact of the Get Tough Movement on Judicial Sentencing Patterns: A New York Case Study - Megan Kurlychek, University at Albany, SUNY

• The Impact of Criminal History Record Sealing on National Recidivism Estimates - Kimberly Martin, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice; Matthew Durose, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice; Megan Kurlychek, University at Albany, SUNY

• The Incapacitation Effect of First Imprisonment: A New Benchmark Based on Official Criminal Records - KiDeuk Kim, Urban Institute

Chair

• Howard Snyder, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice