Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California

Re: Are Children Citizens?

Minors who are born in the U.S. are citizens from the moment of birth. In some circumstances foreign-born minors are citizens from birth as well. Other non-citizen minors can become citizens just as adults can, although parental consent is usually necessary.

And yes, minors -- including those who are *not* citizens, by the way -- have rights. We do not live in a society where the local librarian (or anyone else) is free to treat children as they please.

The rights of children are more limited than those of adults, of course. Children cannot vote, drink alcohol, hold elected office, and so on. They do have the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, to due process of law, to free exercise of religion, etc. In some instances these rights are more narrow than what adults enjoy, but the principle is the same.

There are so many different ways that these rights might or might not differ from those of adults under various circumstances that I will not attempt to summarize them here.

Many laypeople do not understand that many perceived "rights" are really just restrictions on government power. For example, the government may not interfere with free speech, but private parties may under some circumstances (e.g., private companies can punish speech by employees which injures their business). These restrictions apply to minors as well as to adults, though here again the application to minors can be a bit different under some circumstances.

From your question I gather that you work at a public library. If I am right about this then the authority you wield over your patrons is the authority of the government, and you may not exceed the authority the government has under the law.

I don't know what you mean by "taking a harder line approach" with these kids, though the tone of your question makes me wonder whether being a children's librarian was a wise career choice for you. If you would like to contact me and explain what it is that you are being forbidden to do I can try to offer more specific comments.

Re: Are Children Citizens?

Mr. Hoffman is right in his analysis of minors' constitutional rights, etc. However, they do not generally have the right to get away with breaking laws that adults don't. In other words, it depends on how extreme this "rowdiness" is. If they are actually violating local laws with their behavior, or state library laws and regulations, the library has every right to insist they conform their behavior, leave or, if severe enough, report it to the authorities. Your practical problem is your disagreement with your superiors. But, if, for example, you observe them assaulting somebody, or putting out lines of cocaine on a desk, or drinking beer, you have every right as a citizen to insist they leave or call the appropriate authorities. Your government employer cannot order you to refrain from this at peril of your job. As a civil servant, you have some rights with respect to your job. But, as a long-time employment lawyer, I can tell you that you must be careful of insubordination charges. You should try to persuade your superior to your views if you reallly think they have merit, but don't take unilateral action contrary to his/her orders unless clearly tolerating violations of law. Again, it all depends on how "rowdy" they really are.