Minor is a person who is under legal age. In the United States, the legal age was traditionally 21. However, the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1971, set the minimum voting age at 18. Since then, many states have lowered the legal age–known as the age of majority or adulthood–to 18. In 45 states, the legal age is now 18. In four others–Alabama, Alaska, Nebraska, and Wyoming–it is 19. The general age of majority is still 21 in Mississippi. All states set 21 as the minimum legal age to possess or drink alcoholic beverages.
Under the law, minors have many privileges that are not given to adults. For example, they are not held responsible for a contract with an adult and can refuse to carry out their part of the bargain. However, minors are usually liable for the reasonable value of certain goods or services that are not provided by a parent, as long as the parent provides essential care. These goods or services, called necessaries, include food, clothing, lodging, medical care, and education. The law gives special privileges to minors because they are considered too inexperienced to be fully responsible for their actions. In some states, these privileges can be removed by a court action.
Minors may be held responsible for wrongdoing, such as damages they do to others. However, age and inexperience may be taken into consideration.
Under common law, children under 7 years old were presumed to be incapable of committing a crime. Between the ages of 7 and 14, this presumption could be disputed. For minors over 14, the presumption was that they had criminal capacity. Punishment today varies with the minor’s age and usually differs from that for adults. All U.S. states have special courts for minors (see Juvenile court ).
