New York's highest court was fractured in a 4-3 Tuesday ruling that allows state judges to prevent criminal cases involving 16- and 17-year-old chronic reoffenders from automatically qualifying for Raise the Age status in family courts. The majority opinion, written by New York Court of Appeals Judge Shirley Troutman, affirmed that youth part judges in adult courts should have the discretion to decide whether chronic reoffenders should have their latest matters continue in adult courts, rather than be automatically referred to family courts, where cases are taken up as adolescent offenses focused on program treatment rather than incarceration. Troutman's decision in People v. Guerrero is considered a win for state prosecutors in that it put an end to the number of chances a youthful offender like Guerrero can get in Family Court under Raise the Age, as the District Attorneys Association for the State of New York calls for changes to the statute. The case involved a Syracuse armed home-invasion case from 2021 involving the 17-year-old Guerrero and three accomplices. Guerrero and his accomplices were armed with knives when they stole cash and drugs from an acquaintance, according to the majority opinion. One of the accomplices took the victim's handgun and struck him with it three times. An Onondaga County Court judge granted the district attorney's office's request to block the case from Family Court, a decision that survived the Appellate Division, Fourth Department and Tuesday's close call by the state's top court. Troutman, who was joined by the Court of Appeals' more conservative wing in Judges Madeline Singas, Michael Garcia and Anthony Cannataro, held that the county court hadn't abused its discretion, given the case's "extraordinary circumstances" of Guerrero receiving eight Family Court appearance tickets and two adjudications that resulted in "terms of supervision" during a five-year span. Albany lawmakers had left the term "extraordinary circumstances" providing for exceptions to cases being transferred to family courts, undefined in the statute. Wrote Troutman: "The circumstances of this case could fairly be described as extraordinary. Defendant was no stranger to the criminal justice system. Since age 13, he had been arrested repeatedly, was frequently in Family Court, and had received many services over a period of five years that were intended to assist him in leading a law-abiding life." "It is undisputed that, despite those services, his criminal behavior escalated to the point that only a month after receiving a Family Court appearance ticket for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, he participated in a preplanned home invasion in which he displayed a knife and where his accomplices’ conduct in displaying firearms would have mandated retention of the case by the youth part if defendant had done so himself," the jurist added. Judge Caitlin Halligan's dissent suggested the majority treated youthful reoffenses “in and of itself” as extraordinary. Joined by Chief Judge Rowan Wilson and Judge Jenny Rivera, who are part of the court's liberal wing, Halligan said lawmakers intended "to provide treatment and services rather than adult punishment to young people, even those charged with violent felonies, except in a very narrow swath of cases." But Troutman said the dissent downplays Guerrero's criminal history. "By the time of the hearing, defendant’s history far exceeded one or two youthful transgressions. Moreover, the crime here is deeply troubling. We do not agree with the dissent that a robbery home invasion is a 'typical' youth crime nor that the salient facts here 'could readily describe any burglary, robbery, or other violent felony,'" Troutman countered. Big Law firm Proskauer Rose had published an amicus brief on behalf of 26 juvenile justice advocacy organizations in support of Guerrero’s appeal. The amici, including the Legal Aid Society, had argued that Guerrero's case belongs in Family Court so as not to undermine Raise the Age, and more broadly, put communities at risk that are served by the juvenile justice advocates, the brief said.