Chief Justice Mark Martin will hold a press conference on Monday, May 1, at the N.C. General Assembly in support of the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, HB280, also referred to as "raise the age."

WHO
Chief Justice Mark Martin

WHEN
The event will be Monday, May 1, at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE
N.C. General Assembly Press Room (1328), Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601. Listen live via the Press Room audio stream.

MORE INFORMATION
In 2017, North Carolina's criminal reform efforts are poised to extend to our state's juvenile system. The Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, which was introduced in March, represents a series of recommendations to improve the justice system's response to children and teenagers under the age of 18. These recommendations are consistent with the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice (NCCALJ) recommendations regarding juvenile justice reinvestment. Central to these recommendations include treating 16- and 17-year-olds as juveniles except when they are accused of committing violent crimes.

In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Justice Reinvestment Act to reform our adult criminal justice system. Those policy changes led to the lowest state prison population in a decade and saved the state nearly $165 million from 2012 to 2015. During this same time period, there has been a decrease in crime rates.

About N.C. Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch is an equal and distinctively separate branch and core function of government. More than 6,000 Judicial Branch employees statewide administer justice in courthouses in North Carolina's 100 counties. The Judicial Branch budget for FY 2016 - 2017 is $516.6M, 92% of which is used to pay salaries and the remaining 8% is used for operations. The Judicial Branch receives only 2.29% of the overall State budget. More than 47% of the Judicial Branch's appropriation is equivalent to revenues collected by the courts through imposed fines and fees that are deposited in the State General Fund.