DA Harrington Talks Juvenile Justice, Sexual Assault And Domestic Violence Taskforce Progress

Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington has joined with two other Massachusetts DAs to call on state legislators to raise the maximum age for people in the juvenile justice system from 18 to 21. In neighboring Vermont, youthful offender status has already been raised to 21 by a 2016 law that went into effect last year. Harrington, who won office in 2018 on a reform platform, sat down with WAMC to explain why she believes young adults are poorly served by the adult justice system. She also discussed the progress made by the taskforce she convened in April to confront what she described as the “epidemic” of sexual assault and domestic violence in the community.