Abstract
In the 1960s and 1970s, American society came to the considered conclusion that if eighteen-year-olds can be drafted to fight and possibly die for their country, they should be treated as adults under the law. Thus, in 1971, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen, was proposed and ratified in just three months, making it the fastest amendment to be ratified in American history. The minimum age for federal and state jury service was also lowered from twenty-one to eighteen. And, with regard to contract law, every state passed legislation reducing the age of contractual capacity to eighteen. These changes overrode the centuries-old common law rule that one becomes an adult, in the eyes of the law, at age twentyone— this being premised on the then-relevant custom that Englishmen became eligible for knighthood at that age. Despite the fact that all of these reforms remain in place, the federal Credit CARD Act of 2009 (CARD Act) established twentyone as the minimum age to contract for a credit card.
Recommended Citation
Schwartz, Andrew A.
(2011)
"Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Swipe:
A Critique of the Infancy Rule in the Federal
Credit CARD Act of 2009,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2011:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2011/iss2/4