NEW YORK, NY — Standing in front of the Harlem Community Justice Center today, Cynthia Nixon announced her support of completely ‘raising the age.’ Cynthia was joined at the announcement by Former Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and District Leader John Ruiz.

“We must dismantle racially biased policies that ensnare our youth before they have the chance to reach their full potential,” said Cynthia. “We must invest in schools not jails.”

In 2017, New York became the 49th state in the nation to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18. While Governor Cuomo touted this as a historic achievement for New York, the truth is that his Raise the Age law continues to place children accused of committing certain crimes such as a sex offense, displaying a deadly weapon, or committing significant bodily harm into the adult criminal justice system.

In 2016, over 3,000 young people continued to be pushed into the adult criminal justice system as a result of these carve outs. As Governor, Cynthia will expand Raise the Age so that all youth under 18 are treated as children and sent to family court for all offenses. She would also eliminate children’s jails and prisons for youth under 16, and phase out children’s jails for youth under 18 once Raise the Age is fully implemented.

Cynthia also announced her intent to completely end solitary confinement. Previously, Governor Cuomo has been pushed by advocates to set new rules for solitary confinement but stopped short of completely abolishing it. Cynthia believes we must go further. As years of evidence demonstrate, solitary causes intense suffering and it makes our prisons, jails, and communities less safe. Over 30% of all suicides in New York prisons take place in solitary.

As governor, Cynthia will eliminate solitary confinement and establish Residential Rehabilitation Units to fundamentally transform the response to people’s needs and behaviors from isolation and deprivation to rehabilitation and treatment.

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