The mature minor’s constitutional rights are not violated because the restriction merely delays a minor’s ability to exercise their right to marry rather than foreclosing it entirely. While some older minors may be mature enough to make an informed choice about marriage, the Article concludes that states may restrict marriage to those over eighteen years of age. In order to protect their constitutional rights, children who are incapable of giving informed consent should never be allowed to marry. Furthermore, allowing minors to marry when they lack the maturity to understand or appreciate the consequences of marriage deprives them of their fundamental right to choose whether and who they will marry. Allowing adults to marry young girls and take advantage of the marriage exception to states’ statutory rape laws deprives the girls of the protection that the laws provide to unmarried girls. This Article argues that such marriages violate minors’ rights under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. If minors are legally incapable of giving informed consent to marry, then parental and judicial consent exceptions allow minors to be married without their consent. If it is the parent/guardian who refused consent and the minor is. If such a notation is made, the court must appoint counsel for the minor at least seven days prior to the hearing. If the minor has refused to provide consent, that must be noted on the face of the petition. The Constitution protects children as well as adults. The same requirements as noted above apply to this petition. In those cases, the parents and courts are not protecting the child they are legalizing child abuse. In fact, in many cases, young girls who were impregnated in violation of statutory rape laws were encouraged to marry their rapists. While the parental and judicial consent requirements are intended to protect children, sometimes parents are complicit in the exploitation of the child, and judges are often unwilling or unable to determine whether the marriage is in the child’s best interests. Although all states have statutory minimum age requirements for marriage, there are exceptions in some states that allow children as young as eleven years old to marry with the consent of parents or courts. According to a study conducted by the Tahirih Justice Center, more than 200,000 children under age 18 were married between the years 20 in the United States.
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