Children In Court Case Analysis

Chapter five (5) discusses certain civil rights and a right that has been of controversy in the past ten (10) years has been the rights of Children in both Criminal and Civil cases. Children are considered people that have not yet met the definition of majority – this varies from eighteen (18) to twenty-one (21) years of age1. One of the first examples would be: if a minor signs a contract they are not to be held liable unless these contracts are for necessities. Usually when a minor commits a crime of negligence, like breaking a mailbox, legal guardians are held responsible for compensation of the damaged object. Children have been faced with different guidelines for criminal law; common law is what is held by most states for criminal actions regarding children. Common law states that children seven (7) years or younger are incapable of criminal intent because they lack morals; this same argument is made for children between seven (7) and fourteen (14) years old. If the prosecution can find that the child that are between seven (7) and fourteen (14) years of age had full knowledge of the …show more content…
These interviews are about as relevant as the rights that children have in court. While the judge will listen to these interviews, they are given very little weight. In 1993, the court decided that the parents’ rights should be respected over the child’s best interests (DeBoer by Darrow v. DeBoer). This is one of the most destructive court hearings for children. The context of the DeBoer case is when a couple from Michigan cared for a child quickly after her birth, petitioned to adopt the child, only to lose the child in a custody case to the biological parents. Justice does not seem to be present in this court case as the child would probably have been better suited to stay with parents that had cared for her since birth instead of being torn from people that truly cared just because they are not her biological