Post date: Sep 11, 2013 12:14:54 PM
The law and culture of the USA is set up as if everyone over 18 years of age is capable of thinking and acting responsibly at all times.
Unlikely. "An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." [NIH]
The results are predictable. "While Americans represent about 5 percent of the world's population, nearly one-quarter of the entire world's inmates have been incarcerated in the United States in recent years. Imprisonment of America's 2.3 million prisoners, costing $24,000 per inmate per year, and $5.1 billion in new prison construction, consumes $60.3 billion in budget expenditures." [Wiki]