Laws That Minors Can Break but Adults Cannot
Everyone knows what crimes are and what would happen if they were to commit one. This is just something that people learn over time. However, there is something about laws and crimes that people know, without ever really considering. What a lot of adults may not consider, is that there are somethings they can do without fear of breaking a law, while a minor would face legal trouble for doing the same.
What Are Status Offenses?
According to the law, there are plenty of things out there that adults can do, but minors cannot. This leads to an interesting section of the law where things are considered illegal, but only for minors. This means these acts can’t be crimes, because adults can do them pretty much any time they want. This is why the term status offense exists. A status offense is any activity that a minor could get in trouble for doing simply because of their age at the time of the act. It is estimated that 20% of all juvenile arrests are due to status offenses. Some of the most common status offenses that a minor can be charged with include: Being uncontrollable by parents or guardians.- Consuming alcohol
- Consuming marijuana
- Consuming tobacco
- Possessing alcohol
- Possessing marijuana
- Possessing tobacco.=
- Running away
- Skipping school
- Violating curfew.
25 June, 2020
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