Wait...Is That Legal?
A Podcast about TV Shows and Movies and the legal issues they raise. Each episode looks at a legal topic presented in a Movie or TV Show and analyzes it based on the real laws where the episode or movie is set.
Wait...Is That Legal?
In the Matter of M.G., a minor child
Re: Emancipation of Minors/Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001), Roswell (1999), Gossip Girl (2007), New Amsterdam (2018)
What is legal emancipation? Can anyone under the age of 18 be legally emancipated? Is it as easy to be emancipated as they show on TV?
TV Episodes:
Degrassi: The Next Generation, S.3 Ep.21: “Our House” (aired 2004); S.7, Ep.24: “We Built This City” (aired 2008).
New Amsterdam, S.4, Ep.14: “…Unto the Breach” (aired 2022).
Gossip Girl, S.2, Ep.11: “The Magnificent Archibalds” (aired 2008).
Roswell, S.1 Ep.15: “Independence Day” (aired 2000).
Sources:
Children’s Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.12, s. 65 (2021).
Ontario Works Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 25, Sched. A (2021).
A.C. v. V.A., 2012 ONCJ 7 (CanLII).
O.G. v. R.G., 2017 ONCJ 153 (CanLII).
NewYouth, “I’m Under 18, How Can I Apply For Ontario Works (Welfare)?” https://newyouth.ca/en/resources/daily-life/personal-finance/im-under-18-how-can-i-apply-ontario-works-welfare (2019).
Emancipation of Minors Act, NM Stat. 32A-21-1 to 32A-21-7 (New Mexico Statutes (2023 Ed.)).
“Petition for Emancipation Instructions” Children’s Court Self Help Forms, https://seconddistrictcourt.nmcourts.gov/home/courts/childrens-court/childrens-court-self-help-forms/ (PDF, rev. 8/5/15).
Department of Social Services Regulations (18 NYCRR) § 349.5.
“Emancipation in New York,” Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. https://www.lawny.org/node/9/emancipation-new-york (2023).
Written, Researched, and Recorded by Céleste Young, 2024.
Music: Out On My Skateboard - Mini Vandals
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