May

14, 2015

An Open Letter to the New York State Legislature:

We all understand the moral arguments against prosecuting and incarcerating children as
adults. History will surely judge us by whether we help or harm young offenders; and it is
impossible to reconcile our Constitutions prohibition against cruel punishment with the
disturbing, often violent outcomes for young people held in adult facilities in New York State.

For thirty years, my wife Harriet and I have served the formerly incarcerated and homeless.
Thousands and thousands of times weve heard, first hand, how a brush with the criminal
justice system sets a life-long cycle of poverty, drug use, and recidivism into motion. Even
when an offender is an adult, with an appropriate sentence in a well-run facility, the
unintended consequences of incarceration affect their lives and their familys lives, forever.

For children and they are children, with minds still growing and developing the full weight
of our criminal justice system is crushing. A single mistake, even a misdemeanor, can be life
ending: the Campaign for Youth Justice points out that suicide rates among young people in
adult prisons are 36 times higher than in juvenile facilities.

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But there is another side to this argument which hasnt been discussed. What does
incarcerating children as adults mean for our collective future? What are the implications for
the rest of New York State its people, its economy?

The mass incarceration of adults has dealt our country a crippling blow which we are only
beginning to fully appreciate. The Governors Council on Community Reentry and
Reintegration, which I am proud to serve on, was formed in part to address this crisis: a coming
wave of millions of people returning home from prison, with few if any prospects. If we dont
provide a path for them, with economic opportunity and mobility paving the way, the cost of
their incarceration will far exceed the terms of their sentences for taxpayers.

For young people released after serving time in adult prisons, the economic consequences to
the state will last even longer and cut much deeper. Their descent into homelessness, poverty,
mental illness and drug use will begin as soon as theyre released. And New York State
taxpayers will bear the ultimate financial responsibility for their ruined lives.

With recidivism rates as high as 80 percent for young offenders, our system is manufacturing
criminals far more quickly than it reforms them. And we are disabling our own economy by
pumping millions of dollars into a machine that destroys young lives, instead of investing in
them.

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I urge you to seize the opportunity provided by Governor Cuomo to safeguard the lives of our
children and the future of our states economy. Raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to 18 and
ensure that no more young people are subjected to a destructive, expensive, ill-fitting system.
The longer we wait, the further out of reach prosperity becomes: for them, for their
communities, and for our state as a whole.

George T. McDonald
Founder and President
The Doe Fund

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