Child Marriage in America: An Interim Solution Pending a Total Ban

Authors

Raquel Wildes Genet, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

This Note explores child marriage in the United States. Part I considers the scope of child marriage and provides legal and historical background on marital age restrictions (also known as nonage statutes). Part II considers arguments for and against a total ban of child marriage that would create a blanket eighteen-plus-to-marry age requirement in states. Part III concludes that a total ban is not yet a perfect fit for all states. Instead, it argues that no marriage should be permitted when a party is under seventeen, with increasing flexibility and deference to the parties as the child ages so long as there are effective procedural mechanisms in place to ensure that a seventeenyear-old seeking to marry is doing so of her own volition and that the marriage is in her best interest. Part IV addresses possible counterarguments to this Note's proposal. Ultimately, this Note concludes that the statutory scheme controlling marital age-though broken-is not beyond repair.

Disciplines

Constitutional Law | Juvenile Law | Law

Recommended Citation

Raquel W. Genet, Child Marriage in America: An Interim Solution Pending a Total Ban, 40 Cardozo L. Rev. 2999 (2019).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol40/iss6/9