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Summary: General overview of the United States' national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law The United States has signed but not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nonetheless, the Convention has been cited in domestic courts which have discussed whether its provisions amount to customary international law in light of its almost universal ratification. The Convention has been used in a number of cases in support of courts' decisions, but the status of the CRC in domestic law is not clear. Constitution: the amendments to the Constitution of the United States contain a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, but only one provision specifically addresses the rights of children: Article XIV of the Amendments to the Constitution: provides that all persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State in which they reside. Legislation: there is a vast quantity of legislation related to children in the United States across the Federal and State levels. The United States Code presents a codified form of federal law, several sections of which have particular relevance to children, notably Title 18 (Crimes and Criminal Procedure), Title 20 (education) and Title 29 (Labour). Each of the 50 States has its own laws on issues such as crime, employment, education and marriage. See the section below on legal research for more information on where to find relevant legislation. Note on the legal system of the United States: the United States has a federal system of government whereby the Federal Government and fifty States have parallel systems of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The relationship between the States and the Federal government can be quite complicated but simply stated, any power not defined within the remit of the Federal Government by the Constitution falls within the powers of the individual States. Legal Research The Constitution of the United States is available through the Governmental Archive website (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html) and Federal legislation is available through the website of Congress (http://beta.congress.gov/legislation). The websites of the State legislatures, through which State level legislation can be found, are listed through the U.S. Library of Congress' THOMAS website (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/state-legislatures.html). In addition, the GlobaLex project at New York University has published a guide to legal research in the United States (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/United_States1.htm) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/us/) provides access to a selection of legal and governmental resources. All resources are available in English. Case Law CRC Jurisprudence The Convention on the Rights of the Child has been cited in a number of cases in the United States, including in reference to the deportation of a child's parents (http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1424), the death penalty for crimes committed under the age of 18 (http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1433) and life imprisonment of children without the possibility of parole (http://www.crin.org/Law/instrument.asp?InstID=1464). Case Law Research The website of the Supreme Court of the United States publishes it's judgments (http://www.supremecourt.gov/default.aspx) and the websites of the Appeals Courts are available through the World Legal Information Institute website (http://www.worldlii.org/us/). Compliance with the CRC The United States has signed but not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and so the Committee on the Rights of the Child has not reviewed the compatibility of the States' laws with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The United States has, however, ratified the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the sale of children and the involvement of children in armed conflict, but the Committee is yet to complete its first review of the States' compliance with these Protocols. Current legal reform projects Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.