Senate Bill S9410

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9410

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to resentencing
certain juvenile and adolescent offenders

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Provides relief to the teenagers who were prosecuted in the adult courts
and sentenced to prolonged periods of time prior to the effect of New
York's Raise the Age Law. It also lays out the opportunity for these
adolescents to get released from prison through parole or resentencing.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: This act is named the "Abandoned Teens Act".

Section 2: amends the criminal procedure law by adding a new section
722.25 to establish criteria for parole eligibility for persons
convicted of crimes and prosecuted in the adult courts before the effect
              

of the Raise The Age Law. It excludes people convicted of first-degree
murder or aggravated murder. It allows eligible people to petition for
resentencing to the sentencing court, which will consider mitigating
factors to the nature of their crime. In case of a denial or while
awaiting resentencing, the offender will have the opportunity for parole
after serving 15 years in prison.

Section 3: Sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Raise the Age Law was a landmark reform recognizing that teenagers
should not be automatically treated as adults in criminal proceedings.
However, based on the Raise the Age Law, if a person committed a crime
prior to October 1st, 2018, then the law is not applicable to their
case. Prior to the effect of the Raise the Age Law, almost 28,000 indi-
viduals aged 16 to 17 years faced possible prosecution in the adult
courts every year.  That being the case, reforms should be applied
retroactively to ensure fair treatment for every person. Research demon-
strates that there is a 34% chance for a young person to be rearrested
when they are moved from the juvenile to the adult criminal justice
system.

Scientific evidence confirms that adolescents are developmentally
different from adults in ways directly relevant to culpability and reha-
bilitation. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that chil-
dren are "constitutionally different" for purposes of sentencing.

This bill remedies an inequity by providing a structured process for
review, allowing courts and parole boards to apply the Raise the Age Law
retroactively, and provide an opportunity for these incarcerated indi-
viduals to get released and have the possibility to continue their
lives.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.