ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief summary of the scientific information that has recently emerged as a result of technological advances in the study of the human brain and that was presented to the Court in Roper. It reviews the four dominant schools of thought about the relationship between capacity and children's legal rights and considers whether emerging scientific knowledge requires a reconsideration of these theories. The schools are: the nurturance model; the "liberationist" model; the classic "rights model" applied to minors; and the "empowerment" model. The chapter describes that scientific validation of cultural perceptions regarding the vulnerability of adolescents is consistent with theories supporting constitutional rights for minors and indeed supports increased voice and empowerment for teenagers, along with procedural protections that account for their developmental limitations. It considers the implications of the emerging knowledge about the teenage brain for competing theories of children's rights. The chapter also considers the empowerment approach to children's rights in a broader context.
