Modernizing Capacity Doctrine

Authors

Lisa V. Martin, University of South Carolina School of LawFollow

Publication Date

7-2021

Volume

73

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Federal capacity doctrine—or the rules establishing whether and how children’s civil litigation proceeds—has largely remained the same for more than a century. It continues to presume that all children are incapable of directing their own cases, and that adults must litigate on children’s behalf. But since that time, our understanding of children, and of adolescents in particular, has significantly evolved. This Article contends that it is well beyond time to modernize the capacity doctrine to better account for the capabilities of adolescents and support their transition to adulthood.

Recommended Citation

Lisa Martin, Modernizing Capacity Doctrine, 73 Fla. L. Rev.821 (2021).

Comments

Originally published in Florida Law Review and shared here with their permission.