by KYW's Amy Feldman
Ashley Dupre, the callgirl who will forever be associated with the spectacular fall of NY Governor Eliott Spitzer, has apparently not used every second of her 15 minutes of fame (or found the bottom of the taste pool in the money-making arts)—she is now suing the soft porn creators of Girls Gone Wild for allegedly plying her with alcohol when she was 17 and getting her to pose topless and sign a release to allow the pictures in the video. She now claims that the release is void because she was a minor. Is she right? Is a contract made with a minor unenforceable?
Well, yes and no. For the most part, minors are considered legally incapable of entering into contracts. In most states, "minors" are people under the age of 18 -- in a few states, the age may be slightly lower. If a person or business does enter into a contract with a minor, the minor generally is not responsible for keeping up his end of the bargain—unless the minor acted fraudulently to get services or products like lying about his age to get a credit card in which case he could be held responsible for the debts he incurred. In this case, it is likely that a release signed by a very young and immature soon-to-be callgirl will not be found legal because she did not possess the requisite good judgment that she has since demonstrated as an adult.
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