Constitutional rights of 18-to-20-year-olds

Sat Dec 20 13:36:36 PST 2008

                Thanks, that sounds like a good idea.  But my question
is to what extent courts viewed constitutional rights as not vesting
until 21.  (I exclude voting and officeholding, to the extent they were
treated as constitutional rights under state constitutions; that's more
clear to me, but I just haven't seen anything as to the other
constitutional rights.)

                Eugene

From: Paul Finkelman [mailto:paul.finkelman at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 10:15 AM
To: Volokh, Eugene
Cc: conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
Subject: RE: Constitutional rights of 18-to-20-year-olds

I guess it is "age of majority" for "what?"  Some states allowed 18 or
20 year olds to vote before 1971.  I would suggest that you create some
kind of large matrix with a list of "rights" on the left side and a set
of columns of  yes, no, some, on the top; and to the yes now some for
pre-18; 18-21; and do it for male and female, and then do a study.  On
the left side list would be things like the right to:  marry; contract;
bank account, drive, licensed blue collar jobs; licensed professional
(which as I suggested might be moot because of education requirements);
get a car loan; buy real estate; own stocks, vote; hold elected office;
appointed office; civil service job (state and federal); enlist in the
military;  be a police officer or firefighter; drive and ambulance; have
consensual sex; buy tobacco; buy wine, beer, liquor (it will differ in
some places);  drive at night; etc.  

I did this sort of thing many years ago in an article on the rights of
free blacks before 1868 and it was very interesting to see the results
on a state by state basis.  [Prelude to the Fourteenth Amendment: Black
Legal Rights in the Antebellum North, 17 RUTGERS LAW JOURNAL 415-82
(1986).]  Might be a useful template for you. 

----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208

518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)

pfink at albanylaw.edu

www.paulfinkelman..com

--- On Sat, 12/20/08, Volokh, Eugene <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu> wrote:

From: Volokh, Eugene <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>
Subject: RE: Constitutional rights of 18-to-20-year-olds
To: 
Cc: conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 12:44 PM

                I agree that there have long been different age cutoffs
for different activities, so speaking generally of an "age of majority"
may be misleading.  But my understanding is that this term has always
been used as if it meant something, and the source I got on this - Larry
Barnett, Roots of Law, 15 Am. U. J. Gender Social Policy & L. 613,
681-86 (2007) - reports that the age of majority for males was 21
everywhere in the U.S. until the 1970s, though 18 for females in a
significant minority of the states.  Am I missing something?

                Eugene

From: Paul Finkelman [mailto:paul.finkelman at yahoo.com] 
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 8:20 AM
To: Volokh, Eugene
Cc: conlawprof at lists.ucla..edu
Subject: Re: Constitutional rights of 18-to-20-year-olds

As I recall the majority age for most things was 18 -- getting the
minimum wage, getting almost any form of employment, marriage without
parental permission, consenusal sex, enlisting in the military, buy and
smoke tobacco, getting a beer (at least in NY State), and I asusme
joining a labor union. You could have your own bank account as well.
You could dirve in all states with no restrictions (some states had
restrictions on night driving vs. day driving for different ages, but
none after 18; I believe NYC required a higher age to drive in the City
but it may have been 17 and you could certainly drive in the City at
18,.  You could not vote; and I do not recall what the "contract" age
was for signing legal contracts, but I think that was 18 at least in
some places.. In terms of crimes you were surely an adult by 18 if not
before.  

So, I wonder if your premise is wrong -- that is the Age of Majority was
18 for almost all things except voting,runingfor office and perhaps some
jobs (lawyer, doctor but that was mooted by almost no one have the
euation before 21 in any event); I do not know about becoming a police
officer or  firefigher at 18.  

----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208

518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)

pfink at albanylaw.edu

www.paulfinkelman.com

	On Dec 19, 2008, at 10:42 PM, Volokh, Eugene wrote:

                I'm looking for information on how courts and
commentators treated the constitutional rights of 18-to-20-year-olds,
back when the age of majority was generally 21, which is to say until
the early 1970s.  If you have any pointers on this, I'd be very much
obliged.  Many thanks,

                Eugene

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