Ending the automatic prosecution of teens as adults

What we are doing now doesn’t work: Massachusetts spends enormous amounts of money locking up young people in the adult system, with terrible outcomes for young people and our communities. Shifting emerging adults into the juvenile system would lower recidivism and prevent deeper criminal justice system involvement.

The juvenile system can hold younger justice-involved emerging adults accountable while providing them with developmentally appropriate services tailored for their age group: school, rehabilitative programming, and vocational training. This approach will improve outcomes for young people and make communities safer by getting youth on the right track. Serious crimes would still be eligible for adult sentences.

The Massachusetts’ economy will benefit from this reform. An educated workforce is one of the state’s best assets. Because the criminal justice system disproportionately impacts young people of color at higher rates, the decrease in opportunity that results from system contact hits Black and Latino communities especially hard. These reforms give young people a better chance to grow up to contribute to their communities, helping to prevent intergenerational poverty.

Legislation Related to Emerging Adult Justice

An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young Adults (Reps. O’Day & Cruz HD. H.1710 / Sen. Crighton S.942)

This bill would restructure the juvenile justice system to include 18 to 20-year-olds to prevent long-term criminal justice system involvement by ensuring they are held accountable and engaged in treatment, education, and vocational training that are more effective for this age group. Young people charged with serious offenses would still be eligible for adult sentencing in murder and “Youthful Offender” cases as is currently the law for children 14 years and older.  This bill would:

  • Gradually raise the upper age in delinquency and youthful offender cases to include 18- to 20-year-olds over several years. Young adults with serious offenses would still be eligible for adult sentencing in murder and “Youthful Offender” cases as is currently the law.

  • Expand the upper age of commitment to DYS for emerging adults (18-20) to ensure that there is an adequate opportunity to rehabilitate older youth entering the system, including extended commitment with DYS in “Youthful Offender” cases up to age 23.

An Act to Ensure Educational Rights Are Upheld For Incarcerated Youth (Rep. Keefe H.515/ Sen. Miranda S.1542)

While Massachusetts prides itself as having one of the highest rates of educational quality and education in the nation.  However, these rankings hide local and state failures at upholding the educational rights of all children and youth.  Unlike teens in the juvenile system, school-aged youth incarcerated in adult correctional facilities do not receive the education that they are entitled to by law.  Despite the role of education in lowering recidivism and helping young people reach their highest potential, only a small fraction of youth aged 18-21 with IEPs receive the special education services. Further, DOC's waiting list for educational programming is over 3,000 people long. This bill proposes systemic reforms, modeled after the Department of Youth Services' educational services, to ensure that youth are regularly engaged in education, including high school, special education, higher education, or vocational educational programs.

Media coverage

Support for Massachusetts' campaign to raise the age to 21 has been highlighted in:

Local media

National media