document_title: List of youngest birth mothers

question_text: youngest person to have a baby in the united states

text: List of youngest birth mothers

text: Age 5[edit]

text:
Date
Mother
Age of mother
Father
Country
Description

1939-05-14 May 14, 1939
Lina Medina
7000507000000000000♠ 5 years,
7 months
Unknown
Peru  Peru
Lina Medina, from the Ticrapo District of Peru, gave birth by cesarean section in Lima at age  5 1⁄2. The infant was a 2.64 kg (5.8 lb), 47.5 cm (18.7 in) boy named Gerardo. Medina's parents, who assumed their daughter had a tumor, took her to a hospital in late March, where she was then found to be 7 months pregnant. By interrogating her parents, the doctors understood that Medina had entered into precocious puberty (when hormone glands are activated earlier than normal) very early after her birth.[1][2][3][4][5] Although Medina's father was arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse, he was later released due to lack of evidence, and the baby's biological father was never identified.[1][4]

text: Age 6[edit]

text:
Date
Mother
Age of mother
Father
Country
Description

1932-06-07 June 7, 1932
H. !H.
7000607000000000000♠ 6 years,
7 months
Unknown
India  British Raj
(now  India)
The 6-year-old known only as "H." gave birth by cesarean section to a girl weighing 4.19 lb (1.90 kg) at Victoria Zanana Hospital in Delhi. She was initially admitted for what was thought to be an abdominal tumor, as she complained of localized pain in her lower abdomen. Her father said she was 7, but civic records gave her birth date as October 11, 1925, making her 6 years and 7 months old at the time of labor. She had never menstruated and her breasts were still far from being fully developed, yet she was able to breastfeed her child for 9 months.[6]

1934-08-19 August 19, 1934
Pantueva, Yelizaveta "Liza"Yelizaveta "Liza" Pantueva
(Елизавета "Лиза" Пантуева)
7000600000000000000♠ 6 years
Her 70-year-old maternal grandfather
Soviet Union  Soviet Union
(now  Ukraine)
Yelizaveta "Liza" Pantueva was 5 years old when her 70-year-old maternal grandfather raped and impregnated her. She had her 6th birthday several days before giving birth. Pantueva's parents did not want the obstetricians to perform a cesarean section, as it was considered dangerous at the time. She gave birth in Kharkiv, with the aid of forceps and retractors. The 3 kg (6.6 lb), 52 cm (20 in) infant girl died during labor due to an early placental tear; she had been born at full term and apparently of good constitution and, according to doctors, would have survived if she had been extracted more quickly, revived, and oxygenated. After the incident, the family immigrated to Vladivostok, taking the girl's grandfather with them.[7]

text: Age 8[edit]

text:
Date
Mother
Age of mother
Father
Country
Description

1759-12-05 December 5, 1759
Mummenthaler, AnnaAnna Mummenthaler
7000809000000000000♠8 years,
9 months
A relative of her parents
Switzerland  Old Swiss Confederacy
(now   Switzerland)
Anna Mummenthaler of Lauperswil, Canton of Bern gave birth to a stillborn girl when she was 8 years old.[8]

1884-12-00 December 1884
Mum-Zi !Mum-Zi
7000803999999999999♠8 years,
4 months
Chief Akkiri
 Niger Coast
(now Nigeria  Nigeria)
Mum-Zi was a member of Chief Akkiri's harem on the island of Calabar. Her daughter also gave birth extremely early, making Mum-Zi a grandmother at age 17.[9][10]

1893-08-00 August 1893
Zi !Zi
7000808000000000000♠8 years,
8 months
A relative or familiar of Chief Akkiri
 Niger Coast
(now Nigeria  Nigeria)
Zi, Mum-Zi's daughter, became a mother at the age of 8 years 8 months.[9][10]

1933-08-00 August 1933
ZZ !Unidentified
7000800000000000000♠ 8 years
Her husband[note 1]
India  British Raj
(now  India)
An unidentified 8-year-old girl in Kashmir reportedly died in labor along with her child. The girl's mother, a destitute widow, said she had been forced to accept an offer of marriage for her daughter.[11]

1936-09-13 September 13, 1936
Acuña, GriseldinaGriseldina Acuña
7000802000000000000♠ 8 years,
2 months
A family friend
Colombia  Colombia
Griseldina Acuña of San Zenón, Magdalena Department, gave birth to a boy weighing 5 lb (2.3 kg). She was reported to have begun menstruating at age 3.[12]

1957-12-02 December 2, 1957
Trujillo, HildaHilda Trujillo
7000807000000000000♠ 8 years,
7 months
Her 22-year-old cousin
Peru  Peru
Hilda Trujillo gave birth to a girl named María del Rosario, who was over 6 lb (2.7 kg), at a hospital in Lima.[1] Contrary to what was reported in Time on December 16, 1957 and many other sources, she was not 9 years old, but rather one year younger.[13] The rapist was a 22-year-old cousin who had been staying in her family's one-room residence. He was later arrested.

1993-01-12 January 12, 1993
Guadalupe Morales, ZulmaZulma Guadalupe Morales
7000800000000000000♠8 years
Her uncle
Mexico  Mexico
Zulma Guadalupe Morales, age 8. Her uncle raped her.[14] She gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 7.04 lb (3.19 kg) at a hospital in Guadalajara, Jalisco.[15]

2000-04-00 April 2000
Anna !Anna "Anya"
Анна "Аня"
7000807000000000000♠8 years,
7 months
Her 13-year-old neighbor
Russia  Russia
Anya reached puberty at 7. A 13-year-old neighbor raped her. She gave birth in Rostov-on-Don to a girl.[16]

2004-10-11 October 11, 2004
ZZ !Unidentified
7000805000000000000♠8 years,
5 months
The 32-year-old employee of the neighborhood black-market
Colombia  Colombia
An unidentified girl's pregnancy was revealed by a policeman who became suspicious in early September 2004 when he noticed the girl's swollen abdomen and thought she was a drug smuggler. After the girl had X-rays done, the officer told her mother that the girl was pregnant; the hospital confirmed she was at her 32nd week of pregnancy. The girl revealed that when she had gone to a pharmacy in Ciudad Bolívar, to fetch her sick mother's medicine, an employee there raped her. She gave birth at the Meissen Hospital.[17]

text: Age 9[edit]

text:
Date
Mother
Age of mother
Father
Country
Description

1881-03-00 March 1881
ZZ !Unidentified
7000907000000000000♠9 years,
7 months
A close relative
United Kingdom  United Kingdom
Henry Dodd of Rillington, Yorkshire reportedly delivered a baby weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) to a nine-year-old girl in 1881. The baby was stated to have only three toes on its left foot and to have died of convulsions some time after birth. The girl reportedly began menstruating at twelve months old.[18][19]

1908-03-16 March 16, 1908
P., EstelleEstelle P.
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
United States  United States
Dr. V. I. Pittman of Cadaretta, Mississippi reported to have delivered a boy weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) to nine-year-old Estelle P.[20][21]

1957-08-28 August 28, 1957
ZZ !Unidentified
7000905000000000000♠9 years,
5 months
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a premature boy weighing 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) at the University of Arkansas Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.[22]

1966-03-28 March 28, 1966
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
South Africa  South Africa
A nine-year-old from Brakpan, South Africa gave birth by cesarean section to a baby at a hospital 30 miles (48 km) east of Johannesburg.[23]

1967-10-18 October 18, 1967
Allende, María EulaliaMaría Eulalia Allende
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Ernesto Allende, her cousin in his early 20s
Argentina  Argentina
María Eulalia Allende, from a village in northern Córdoba Province, gave birth to a boy weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) at a hospital in the city of Córdoba.[24][25] Ernesto Allende, both her cousin and the alleged father, disappeared two months before the birth and was sought by police.

1968-12-05 December 5, 1968
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠ 9 years
A farm boy from her village
Argentina  Argentina
A girl from Cachari gave birth to a baby weighing 5 lb (2.3 kg) at a hospital in Azul, Buenos Aires Province. According to press reports, the young father offered to marry the girl, but her parents refused to give their consent.[26]

1971-06-11 June 11, 1971
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Her father was reportedly sought by police
Peru  Peru
A 9-year-old girl from the El Porvenir neighborhood of Lima gave birth to a boy weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) at a hospital in the same city.[27]

1980-07-10 July 10, 1980
Xoagus, VenesiaVenesia Xoagus
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
 South West Africa
(now Namibia  Namibia)
Venesia Xoagus, a Damara girl, gave birth by cesarean section to a healthy 3 kg (6.6 lb) boy at a hospital in Otjiwarongo.[28][29][30]

1986-03-25 March 25, 1986
Mascarenhas, Maria Eliane JesusMaria Eliane Jesus Mascarenhas
7000905000000000000♠ 9 years,
5 months
Cosme Primo dos Santos, her 16-year-old nephew by adoption
Brazil  Brazil
Maria Eliane Jesus Mascarenhas, an orphaned girl adopted by rural farm workers after her mother died in childbirth, gave birth by cesarean section to a 7 lb (3.2 kg) girl named Diane in Jequié.[31][32]

1986-04-00 April 1986
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠ 9 years
Unknown
Kenya  Kenya
An unidentified girl delivered a daughter at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi.[33]

1990-03-12 March 12, 1990
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
Turkey  Turkey
A 9-year-old girl gave birth by cesarean section to a boy at a clinic in Afyonkarahisar.[34] According to the surgeon who assisted the birth, Dr. Mehmet Telek, the mother is officially 9 years old "but, in our opinion, in fact she is a few years older than that."[35]

1994-11-00 November 1994
Mafi, LeylaLeyla Mafi
7000900000000000000♠9 years
A man who paid her parents to allow him to rape her, possibly a relative.
Iran  Iran
According to information gathered by Amnesty International Leyla Mafi, from Arak, Iran, had been prostituted by her mother starting from the age of 8. Leyla M. had a developmental delay (at the age of 19 she was assessed to have a mental age of 8 years old). Among the men who paid to rape the disabled child were several male relatives.[36] She had three children, the first at the age of 9 and then twins at age 14.[37] At age 19, she was condemned and faced the death penalty for the "moral offenses" of debauchery, incest, and illegitimate motherhood. Lawyer Shadi Sadr intervened on her behalf, and her sentence was reduced to public beating and imprisonment. After 2006, Ms. M was sent to a rehabilitation center and eventually came to reside in an apartment with a caretaker.[38][39]

2001-02-26 February 26, 2001
Janmuk, WanwisaWanwisa Janmuk
(วันวิสาข์)
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Her 27-year-old husband[note 2]
Thailand  Thailand
Wanwisa Janmuk, married at 8, gave birth to a girl when she was 9 at a hospital in Phetchabun.[40]

2003-04-01 April 1, 2003
María !María
7000903000000099999♠ 9 years,
3 months
Her stepfather
El Salvador  El Salvador
María, from Candelaria de la Frontera, gave birth by cesarean section to a boy she named José Manuel. María stated that her stepfather repeatedly raped her, and that he had impregnated her.[41][42]

2004-03-01 March 1, 2004
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
A student at her school
Singapore  Singapore
A Singaporean girl gave birth to a boy after a fellow student at her school impregnated her. Her mother initially thought she had a urinary tract infection, but upon taking her to the doctor, learned she was already six months pregnant. The baby was placed up for adoption.[43]

2004-12-25 December 25, 2004
ZZ !Unidentified
7000911000000000000♠9 years,
11 months
A teenager in her neighborhood
Colombia  Colombia
A girl from Medellin, Antioquia, born in early January 1995, gave birth to a premature baby by cesarean section on Christmas Day 2004, at 9 years and 11 months. She left school after only three years, much to the dismay of her 36-year-old mother. The girl became pregnant by a neighborhood teen whose identity she swore to protect. She again became pregnant at the age of  10 1⁄2, this time by a man in his forties who had helped the 10-year-old in her early motherhood. On February 10, 2006, she gave birth to her second child at the age of 11 years and 1 month. Social services and her mother considered it preferable to place her in a home for teen mothers, where she would be supervised and monitored until age 18.[44][45]

2005-12-00 December 2005
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Emmanuel Mbazumutima, the family's houseboy
Rwanda  Rwanda
An unidentified girl became pregnant after her parents' houseboy raped her. She gave birth to a boy by cesarean section at a hospital in Butare, Rwanda. The girl underwent breast development at age six and menarche at age eight.[46]

2006-07-07 July 7, 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
Brazil Brazil
A girl of the Apurinã, an indigenous people from the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, gave birth to a girl weighing nearly 2.2 kg (4.9 lb) by cesarean section at a hospital in Manaus.[47][48]

2006-12-02 December 2, 2006
V. T., NuviaNuvia V. T.
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Avilio Arostica Berrospi, her 28-year-old cousin[49]
Peru  Peru
A girl from Huánuco, Peru gave birth to a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb), 47 cm (19 in) boy via cesarean at a hospital in Lima on her ninth birthday.[50][51] She became pregnant after two of her cousins raped her. One rapist was 17 years old and the other was 28; Avilio, 28, was identified as the father using DNA testing.[52]

2007-03-20 March 20, 2007
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown
Philippines  Philippines
The local media reported that a 9-year-old gave birth in Barangay Turo, Bocaue, just one week before an 11-year old gave birth in the same district.[53]

2007-05-03 May 3, 2007
ZZ !Unidentified
7000908000000000000♠9 years,
8 months
Andrés Gabriel Gabriel, her 57-year-old father
Honduras  Honduras
In La Esperanza, the daughter of Andrés Gabriel Gabriel and María Valentina Lorenzo became pregnant at age 9. Her father began sexually abusing her when she was 6. Upon discovering the pregnancy, Lorenzo tried to persuade her to tell to the authorities that she was 13 years old rather than  9 1⁄2, and that her father was actually her stepfather. The young girl gave birth to a daughter by cesarean section in Tegucigalpa.[54]

2008-07-27 July 27, 2008
ZZ !Unidentified
7000908000000000000♠9 years,
8 months
Alexis Rigoberto Morazán Raudales, her 32-year-old stepfather
Honduras  Honduras
In San Pedro Sula a 32-year-old man repeatedly raped his stepdaughter, starting when she was 8 years old. She became pregnant in December 2007, shortly after her ninth birthday. In early June, the girl was hospitalized for nausea and vomiting, and doctors were surprised to find she was 6 months pregnant. She gave birth to a son in late July 2008.[55] The stepfather was arrested and the mother is being sought.[timeframe?] Police claim that she knew that Morazán Raudales raped her daughter, but did nothing to prevent it, instead threatening the girl. The girl was placed in care[clarification needed] with her baby.

2008-11-00November 2008
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Her 31-year-old neighbor who regularly accompanied her to school
Colombia  Colombia
A girl from the countryside surrounding Bucaramanga, Colombia, gave birth to a boy in mid-November 2008 via cesarean section at age 9. A doctor from the Child Welfare' Health Department had discovered in mid-August that she was 5 months pregnant. The girl implicated her 31-year-old neighbor, who regularly accompanied her via deserted trails to her rural school where she was in 5th grade. She stated that, in mid-March, he had thrown her to the ground in the forest and raped her.[56]

2010-01-27 January 27, 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unknown, though her father is suspected of raping her
China  China
A girl from Songyuan, China gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 6 lb (2.7 kg) at a hospital in Changchun. Circumstances surrounding the girl's pregnancy are not clearly known, and her parents sought legal help once it was discovered.[57][58]

2010-05-15 May 15, 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7000900000000000000♠9 years
A 14-year-old neighbor
Malaysia  Malaysia
A 9-year-old Chinese girl from Penang, Malaysia gave birth to a healthy boy. No police report was made by the parents, who knew that the father was their 14-year-old neighbor whom their daughter loved.[59][60]

2010-10-01 October 1, 2010
G., F. ("Zeina")F. ("Zeina") G.
7000911000000000000♠9 years,
11 months
S.D., the uncle of her grandmother's tenant
Senegal  Senegal
An orphan girl "Zeina" was from neighborhood in Dakar, Senegal, and brought up by her grandmother. The grandmother had a tenant. The tenant's uncle, nearly 60 years old, raped the orphan girl. Noting the absence of her menstruations and her weight gain, her grandmother and her aunt became aware of her pregnancy in June, when she was 5 months pregnant. Zeina gave birth by cesarean section at the Grand Yoff Hospital,[61] to a daughter she rejected.[62]

2013-01-13 January 27, 2013
ZZ !Dafne
7000900000000000000♠9 years
Unidentified
Mexico  Mexico
Dr. Enrique Rabago, director of the Zoquipan Hospital, reported the girl and baby daughter were healthy and had returned home after receiving a Caesarean section. Dafne is one of 11 children and lives in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos. The 17-year-old father and Dafne were dating. A search for the baby’s 17-year-old father, who may be criminally charged for having a sexual relationship with the young girl, was underway.[63] She was reportedly sterilized shortly after the birth.[64] However, questions have emerged about her true age, as she appeared to be around 15. The father may have been Dafne's 44-year-old step-father[65]

text: Age 10[edit]

text:
Date
Mother
Age of mother
Father
Country
Description

1834-04-20 April 20, 1834
Deweese, SallySally Deweese
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
Sally Deweese of Butler County, Kentucky was reported by Dr. D. Rowlett to have delivered a girl weighing 7.75 pounds (3.52 kg). Deweese allegedly developed breasts within weeks of birth and began menstruating at 12 months.[66]

1858-02-01 February 1, 1858
Drayton, ElizabethElizabeth Drayton
7001100800000000000♠10 years,
8 months
Her aunt's nephew, reported to be 15–17 years old
United States  United States
Elizabeth Drayton of Taunton, Massachusetts was reported to have given birth naturally to a boy weighing 8 lb (3.6 kg) after having been in labor for two or three days.[67]

1861-00-00 1861
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100900000000000♠10 years,
9 months
Her husband
 Ottoman Empire
(now Syria  Syria)
A Jewish girl from Damascus, via hereditary precocious pregnancy pre-menarche, gave birth to a daughter at 10 years and 9 months in 1861, then became a grandmother at just 21 when her child in turn gave birth at 10 years and 3 months in 1871.

1873-04-00 April 1873
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100600000000000♠10 years,
6 months
"A native gentleman"
India  British Raj
(now  India)
In an account published in 1873, C. MacNamara described having been called in early spring to examine a baby boy in Calcutta, who had reportedly been born to a 10-year-old girl.[68]

1895-09-10 September 10, 1895
H., AnnieAnnie H.
7001100100000000000♠10 years,
1 month
Her 56-year-old father
United States  United States
Annie H., born in Bland County, Virginia, gave birth to a baby weighing 5 lb (2.3 kg). As the girl had undeveloped breasts and could not produce milk, her mother, who had given birth to a child herself a few months prior, nursed the girl's baby for the week it lived. Annie H. was stated to have started menstruating regularly at age five.[69]

1905-12-13 December 13, 1905
Ellison, SallieSallie Ellison
7001100200000000000♠ 10 years,
2 months
Unknown
United States  United States
Sallie Ellison gave birth to a baby weighing 8 lb (3.6 kg) at the age of 10 years, 2 months in Bristol, Virginia.[70]

1910-04-09 April 9, 1910
Epps, AnnieAnnie Epps
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
Annie Epps of Chicago gave birth to a girl weighing 6 lb (2.7 kg) at the county hospital in 1910.[71][72]

1922-07-30 July 30, 1922
Irwin, ElizabethElizabeth Irwin
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Rev. L. W. Irwin, her stepfather, charged with contributing to her delinquency[73]
United States  United States
Elizabeth Irwin of Hardin County, Ohio gave birth to a boy weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) in 1922.[73][74] Reverend Irwin reportedly prayed for the salvation of the jury that later convicted him.[75]

1923-02-00 February 1923
Cavender, MaryMary Cavender
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Willie Larue, the 26-year-old son of the girl's foster parents
United States  United States
Mary Cavender of Hidalgo County, Texas gave birth to a boy weighing 4.5 lb (2.0 kg) in 1923.[76][77][78] Admitting his paternity, Willie Larue was charged with having "improper relations" with Cavender and sentenced to 15 years in prison.[79]

1930-04-04 April 4, 1930
Johnson, EvilanEvilan Johnson
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
Evilan Johnson gave birth to a baby weighing 8 lb (3.6 kg) at a hospital in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1930.[80]

1939-10-10 October 10, 1939
Lez, María JustinaMaría Justina Lez
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her boyfriend
Argentina  Argentina
María Justina Lez of Villa Mercedes, San Luis, Argentina gave birth to a girl at San Roque Hospital in 1939. The child's father reportedly petitioned for the right to marry the mother, as marriage was forbidden to girls under 13 years of age.[81]

1944-01-10 January 10, 1944
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth naturally to a daughter weighing 8.5 lb (3.9 kg) at a hospital in Monahans, Texas in 1944.[82][83]

1949-03-13 March 3, 1949
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a daughter weighing 7.3 lb (3.3 kg) at a hospital in Wilmington, Delaware in 1949.[84]

1949-05-20 May 20, 1949
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100700000000000♠10 years,
7 months
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a boy weighing 7.8 lb (3.5 kg) at Barber Hospital in Butler, Alabama in 1949.[85]

1950-05-25 May 25, 1950
Moore, SarahSarah Moore
7001100700000000000♠10 years,
7 months
Unknown
United States  United States
Sarah Moore gave birth prematurely to a girl in Charleston, Mississippi in 1950.[86]

1950-06-21 June 21, 1950
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a baby boy weighing 6.5 lb (2.9 kg) at a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska in 1950.[87]

1951-07-13 July 13, 1951
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a boy weighing 7.19 lb (3.26 kg) in Picayune, Mississippi; the girl's mother was 23 at the time.[88]

1953-06-14 June 14, 1953
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
A 50-year-old man who lived in the same apartment building as her foster parents.
United States  United States
A girl gave birth to a daughter weighing 5.94 lb (2.69 kg) at a home for unwed mothers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1953.[89][90]

1954-11-30 November 30, 1954
Delgado Gomez, FeliciaFelicia Delgado Gomez
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
Costa Rica  Costa Rica
Felicia Delgado Gomez gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 5.75 lb (2.61 kg) at a hospital in Limón, Costa Rica, in 1954.[91][92]

1956-08-03 August 3, 1956
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her 18-year-old brother, who was arrested
United States  United States
A girl from Spartanburg County, South Carolina gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 6 lb (2.7 kg) in the city of Spartanburg.[93]

1958-01-22 January 22, 1958
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Her older sister's husband, age 28, was charged[94]
United States  United States
A girl gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 7 lb (3.2 kg) at a hospital in San Francisco.[95]

1964-02-06 February 6, 1964
Sanchez Gonzalez, MaríaMaría Sanchez Gonzalez
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
Mexico  Mexico
María Sanchez Gonzalez of Colonia Morelos, Mexico City gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 5.5 lb (2.5 kg).[96]

1964-02-12 February 12, 1964
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100409999999999♠10 years,
4 months[97]
A 16-year-old boy, her foster family's son
United States  United States
A 10-year-old gave birth by cesarean section to a daughter weighing 5.94 lb (2.69 kg) at a hospital in Chicago.[98]

1967-09-17 September 17, 1967
Gomez Juan, HortensiaHortensia Gomez Juan
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her family's neighbor for whom the girl worked as a servant; he was arrested for rape
Mexico  Mexico
Hortensia Gomez Juan gave birth to a boy weighing 4.44 lb (2.01 kg) in Xalapa, Mexico in 1967.[99][not in citation given]

1968-11-29 November 29, 1968
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown
Belgium  Belgium
In 1968, a 10-year-old gave birth by cesarean section in Antwerp, Belgium.[100]

1969-07-29 July 1969
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl gave birth naturally to a boy weighing 5.63 lb (2.55 kg) at Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia on July 29, 1969.[101]

1971-08-14 August 14, 1971
Fontora, MirtaMirta Fontora
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
Argentina  Argentina
Mirta Fontora, a girl from Pilar Partido, Argentina, gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 6.5 lb (2.9 kg) at a hospital in Pilar.[102][103]

1979-05-25 May 25, 1979
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl age 10 gave birth six weeks premature to twin girls, both weighing 3.38 lb (1.53 kg), by induced labor at a hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is thought to have been the youngest mother of twins in U.S. history at the time.[104]

1982-07-07 July 7, 1982
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
United States  United States
A girl age 10 from a rural town in eastern Texas gave birth to a premature baby girl, weighing 4.5 lb (2.0 kg), at Hermann Hospital in Houston. All other details were withheld by request.[105][106]

1984-04-05 April 5, 1984
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100800000000000♠10 years,
8 months
The girl's uncle and the husband of one of her babysitters were both charged with molesting her
United States  United States
A 10-year-old gave birth naturally to a 6.25 lb (2.83 kg) baby girl in Chicago.[97][107] The girl, who had not known she was pregnant, went to St. Anthony Hospital on April 4 seeking treatment for abdominal pain, and was transferred to the high-risk maternity unit at Cook County Hospital the next day.[97] The girl's uncle and her babysitter's husband were accused of raping her: the uncle admitted to doing so six times, but the babysitter's husband denied the allegations and passed a polygraph.[108]

1996-04-05 April 5, 1996
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
A neighbor
Brazil  Brazil
In 1996, a 10-year-old gave birth by cesarean section in Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso.[109] A neighbor raped her.

1998-07-00 July 1998
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100500000000000♠ 10 years,
5 months
Paul Narvios, the 50-year-old companion of her mother
United States  United States
Taking advantage of his relationship with her mother that lasted a few months between late 1997 and early 1998, Paul Narvios, 50, raped the girl 19 times when she was between  9 1⁄2 and 10 years old. She exposed him and gave birth in San Mateo County, California. Narvios was revealed to be the child's father via DNA evidence. He was sentenced on September 8, 1999 to thirty-one years in prison, including a twenty-six years security, and $40,000 fine, with prohibition from reapproaching mother, daughter, and baby.[110]

2000-09-25 September 25, 2000
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Her 28-year-old brother, who was arrested on a charge of rape
Argentina  Argentina
(originally from
 Bolivia)
A girl from Bolivia gave birth to a daughter weighing 2.5 kilograms (5.5 lb) by cesarean section at a hospital in Parque Patricios. Buenos Aires.[111][112]

2002-09-23 September 23, 2002
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
A 38-year-old man, the brother of the girl's mother's boyfriend, was arrested
Saint Lucia  Saint Lucia
A 10-year-old gave birth to a boy weighing 4 lb (1.8 kg) in Saint Lucia.[113]

2003-11-02 November 2, 2003
Goodman, SamanthaSamantha Goodman
7001107500000000000♠10 years,
9 months
A schoolfriend, allegedly 10 years old, though most likely 12
Zimbabwe  Zimbabwe
Samantha Goodman, 10 years old, from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, gave birth in Materdei Hospital to a 6 lb (2.7 kg) girl, who was named Courtney. When Goodman was 16, she explained in detail what had happened six years earlier: "At a party at a friend early 2003, playing hide and seek, we slipped into the family's library, where we took a book for adults and laughed on the picture of a guy with his sex in a girl's one, and we thought it would be funny that we were trying to do it... We did it! It was funny! A few months later, my mother noticed that my belly had grown enormously. Driving me so urgently to the doctor, she was shocked to discover I was pregnant. Very devout, it was out of question for her I abort... At the idea of giving birth, I was very scared, but, ultimately, it was less painful than when I broke my arm!"[114]

2003-11-13 November 13, 2003
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
Peru  Peru
A girl from Monzón District, Peru gave birth by cesarean section to a baby weighing over 3 kg (6.6 lb) at Hermilio Valdizán Hospital in Huánuco.[115]

2004-01-07 January 7, 2004
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
The 29-year-old boyfriend of her 21-year-old sister
Argentina  Argentina
A 10-year-old gave birth to a baby weighing 3.22 kg (7.1 lb) in Merlo Partido, Argentina.[116]

2005-04-13 April 13, 2005
R. F., G.G. R. F.
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Luis Ramos Coral, her 24-year-old stepfather
Chile  Chile
(originally from
 Bolivia)
A Bolivian girl living in Calama, Chile, gave birth to a boy by cesarean section at a hospital in Antofagasta. The child became pregnant after her stepfather raped her (supposedly her father, purported as in Calama)[clarification needed] at age 9. Her parents, who both came from Colchaca village in Potosí, Bolivia, were jailed.[117][118][119][120]

2005-06-27 June 27, 2005
Chelagat, GladysGladys Chelagat
7001100000000000000♠10 years
The approximately 60-year-old caregiver who had nurtured her since her earliest childhood
Kenya  Kenya
Gladys Chelagat from Kericho, Rift Valley Province gave birth to a boy weighing 6.17 lb (2.80 kg) by cesarean section at a district hospital.[121]

2005-08-28 August 28, 2005
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown; her stepfather and her brother were suspected
Switzerland   Switzerland
(originally from
 Cameroon)
A young girl gave birth to a daughter at a hospital in Sion, Switzerland. She had immigrated from Cameroon to Martigny, then Sierre, Switzerland, with her siblings after her mother married a Swiss citizen. A 68-year-old man who was in a relationship with the mother admitted to having molested the girl but a DNA test found that he was not the father of the girl's child.[122][123][124]

2006-04-03 April 3, 2006
Alvarado Gómez, MonserratMonserrat Alvarado Gómez
7001100600000000000♠10 years,
6 months
Juan Ruelas Martínez, her family's 47-year-old neighbor
Mexico  Mexico
Monserrat Alvarado Gómez of Jaral del Progreso, Guanajuato born on September 16, 1995, gave birth naturally to a girl weighing 2.3 kilograms (5.1 lb) whom, she named Marisol. Ruelas Martínez, her neighbor, was sentenced to  11 1⁄2 years in prison for raping her.[125][126]

2006-04-00 April 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
William Edward Ronca, her 26-year-old stepfather
United States  United States
A young girl in Abbeville, South Carolina gave birth by cesarean section. Her 26-year-old stepfather, William Edward Ronca, raped her. The baby was placed up for adoption.[127] Ronca admitted to having molested the girl over a two-year period and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

2006-04-00 April 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100900000000000♠10 years,
9 months
Julián Andrés H. López, the 30-year-old Colombian boyfriend of her babysitter, who was arrested
Spain  Spain
(originally from
 Colombia)
A Colombian girl gave birth to a daughter in Ourense, Spain. While the mother was away, the girl's babysitter had her boyfriend over the house, and the boyfriend raped the girl.[128]

2006-06-14 June 14, 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
Brazil  Brazil
In 2006, a 10-year-old gave birth by cesarean section to a baby in Marechal Deodoro, Brazil.[129]

2006-07-00 July 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Her 13-year-old boyfriend
Belgium  Belgium
A girl from Montigny-le-Tilleul gave birth in 2006 to a child fathered by her boyfriend and schoolmate. After she had begun gaining weight, her mother put her on a diet, but when the girl visited a doctor, it was discovered that she was nine months pregnant. News of the birth did not become publicly known until 2007.[130]

2006-08-14 August 14, 2006
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100500000000000♠10 years,
5 months
Her father
Mauritius  Mauritius
A young girl, born on March 5, 1996, began menstruating at age 8. One day in November 2005, she was sick, and stayed at home with her father. On that day, he raped her. She gave birth to her daughter by cesarean section on August 14, 2006, and the father was sent to prison.[131]

2006-10-20 October 20, 2006
N. !N.
7001101000000000000♠10 years,
10 months
Francisco das Chagas, her 26-year-old boyfriend
Brazil  Brazil
N., daughter of Francisca Ferreira dos Santos and born on December 12, 1995, gave birth by cesarean section to a baby girl at São Camilo de Itapipoca hospital in Itapipoca, Brazil. Francisco das Chagas de Lima, her boyfriend, was also her 14-year-old sister's ex-boyfriend.[132][133]

2007-07-02 July 2, 2007
Lucila !Lucila
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Noé Velásquez Velásquez, her parents' 65-year-old landlord
Mexico  Mexico
In 2007, 10-year-old Lucila of San Lorenzo Cacaotepec, Oaxaca gave birth to a boy.[134][135][136][137] Noé Velásquez Velásquez, the landlord of the house her parents rented, was jailed.

2007-11-09 November 9, 2007
Evita !"Evita"
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Alejandro Torres, her 22-year-old cousin
Nicaragua  Nicaragua
Originally from the rural island region of El Tortuguero, the poorest part of Nicaragua, 10-year-old "Evita" gave birth by cesarean section in Managua after spending two months in Bluefields. Four months earlier, her mother had summoned a campaign doctor to their farm to examine her daughter's inflated abdomen; the doctor found that she was 5 months pregnant. A few weeks later, her mother revealed to the press that Evita's 22-year-old cousin Alejandro raped Evita.[138]

2008-02-29 February 29, 2008
Rosa !Rosa "Rosita"
7001100800000000000♠10 years,
8 months
Carmen Aguilar, her 33-year-old stepfather
Nicaragua  Nicaragua
Rosa ("the other Rosita"),[note 3] born June 25, 1997 in San Miguelito, Rio San Juan Department, gave birth to a boy by cesarean section at  8 1⁄2 months of pregnancy at the Bertha Calderón Hospital in Managua. Sexually assaulted since age 8 by her stepfather Carmen, she never experienced menstruation, as she became pregnant at her first ovulation. Her stepfather would beat and whip her to subdue her. Her pregnancy was discovered by chance at  5 1⁄2 months, during a tour of rural medical for the poor in early December 2007.[139]

2008-04-28 April 28, 2008
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez, her 37-year-old stepfather
United States  United States
Isabel Chasearez's 10-year-old daughter, from St. Anthony, Idaho, gave birth by cesarean section to a girl weighing approximately 6 lb (2.7 kg) at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg after her mother's boyfriend raped her.[not in citation given] The man, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was jailed on one felony count of rape with impregnation; Chasearez was jailed as well for failing to provide proper prenatal care.[140][141]

2009-03-18 March 18, 2009
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Fede Datilus, a 33-year-old sex offender
United States  United States
(originally from
 Haiti)
A 10-year-old Haitian girl of Lantana, Florida, became pregnant after a 33-year-old man raped her when she was 9. Her father learned of her pregnancy only when he took her to the clinic when she suffered labor contractions on March 18, 2009. The same day, she gave birth naturally to a full-term boy. Reluctantly, she exposed Datilus to investigators who interviewed her through a Haitian Creole interpreter (she spoke only little English, having arrived illegally in the U.S. only 30 months before). She confided that she had been afraid that she and her father would be deported to Haiti – a threat the rapist had used against her. Datilus was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a minor under 12 years, to which 5 years for impregnating her was added.[142]

2009-04-00 April 2009
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100900000000000♠ 10 years,
9 months
Flávio de Oliveira, her 24-year-old stepfather
Brazil  Brazil
A 10-year-old girl from Lagoa Grande, Minas Gerais gave birth to a boy by cesarean section in late April 2009. The director of her school learned of the girl's pregnancy on March 20 after hearing about it in playground discussions among children. The director alerted the judicial and medical-social authorities, and immediately took her to the clinic, where her condition was confirmed: the girl was almost 8 months pregnant, though it was not visible on her. That evening, she exposed her stepfather, who was arrested as he tried to escape to Gurupi in Tocantins, 470 miles (760 km) to the north, and jailed. In March 2008, he began raping her. He impregnated her in late July 2008.[143][144]

2009-06-08 June 8, 2009
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her stepfather
South Africa  South Africa
A girl from Mitchell's Plain township, southeast of Cape Town became pregnant after her 21-year-old uncle raped her. She became convinced that she was in love with him and that he was the father of her child.[145] However, DNA evidence proved the father was her 25-year-old stepfather, who had raped her as well. The girl gave birth to a daughter on June 8, 2009.[citation needed]

2009-12-14 December 14, 2009
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
A man in his mid-30s
Jamaica  Jamaica
A girl from Mountainside, Jamaica gave birth to a baby girl who died three weeks later.[146]

2010-01-04 January 4, 2010
P., M.M. P.
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her 15-year-old brother
Bolivia  Bolivia
M.P., from El Torno, Bolivia, gave birth by cesarean section to a girl weighing 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) at the Instituto Maternológico Percy Boland in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.[147] Three of the girl's brothers raped her. They were 15, 17, and 19. The youngest one was her child's biological father.[148]

2010-05-00 May 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown; thought to be her second child's father, a 46-year-old mason
Bolivia  Bolivia
The father of a 10-year-old girl's first baby was not originally known, but when the same girl from Cabezas came back to Percy Boland Hospital, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, at age 12 to give birth again, authorities succeeded to get her to talk. They apprehended a 49-year-old mason, confirmed father of the second baby and suspected of the first. He was sentenced for rape and impregnation of a minor. It is suspected that the girl's family had allowed men to rape her in exchange for money.[149]

2010-05-00 May 2010
Ch. R., M. L.M. L. Ch. R.
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her father
Bolivia  Bolivia
The 10-year-old, initials M. L. Ch. R., from Zanja Honda, Tarija, gave birth to a 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) girl by cesarean section at the Percy Boland Maternity after a 49-year-old mason allegedly raped her. 15 months after her first child was born, she became pregnant with a son, and claimed that the father was a young man named Armando.[150][151] After her second child was born on May 7, 2012, she disappeared, and her mother admitted that both of her daughter's children were from the daughter's biological father, who had raped his child since she was 8.[152]

2010-07-12 July 12, 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100700000000000♠ 10 years,
7 months
Her 12- or 13-year-old boyfriend
Russia  Russia
The girl, from a village near Kazan, Russia, menstruated early and became pregnant shortly before she was 10, gave birth one month prematurely to a girl in Kazan.[153]

2010-08-19 August 19, 2010
Camille !"Camille"
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Her 27-year-old father
Philippines  Philippines
A 10-year-old girl, known in the media as "Camille", gave birth to a boy in Cotabato City. Her father, who was unemployed and often drunk, began raping her when she was 8.[154][155]

2010-10-26 October 26, 2010
Chiritescu, ElenaElena Chiritescu
7001100600000000000♠10 years,
6 months
Gheorghe Mecic, her 13-year-old cousin and ex-fiance
Spain  Spain
(originally from
 Romania)
Elena Chiritescu, a Romanian Romani girl, gave birth to a 6.4 lb (2.9 kg) girl named Nicoletta Narcissa at a hospital in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.[156][157] Chiritescu was already pregnant when she moved to Spain and was seen selling flowers with her family during a local celebration in Lebrija, when she was in the latest stages of pregnancy. Mecic remained in Romania.[158]

2010-10-29 October 29, 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her 24-year-old distant cousin
Colombia  Colombia
A girl of the Wiwa people gave birth by cesarean section at San Rafael Hospital in San Juan del Cesar. In late January, the girl's mother, Sebastiana María Nieves, was absent for ten days at her sick mother's bedside. During this time, when her mother was away, a 24-year-old distant cousin raped the girl.[159]

2010-11-10 November 10, 2010
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Her father
Bolivia  Bolivia
A girl gave birth to a boy weighing 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) at the Percy Boland maternity ward in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.[160]

2011-01-19 January 19, 2011
A., PaulinaPaulina A.
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Unknown
Argentina  Argentina
Paulina A., a Guaraní girl from Puerto Leoni, gave birth by cesarean section to a boy weighing 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) at a hospital in Posadas. Although her personal documentation gave her age as 10, it was suspected that she was older.[161]

2011-10-22 October 22, 2011
Edith !Edith
7001100000000000000♠10 years,
10 months
Alberto Hernández Loeza, her 28-year-old stepfather
Mexico  Mexico
A 10-year-old girl from the community of San Francisco Totimehuacan gave birth by cesarean section to a premature boy weighing 3.3 lb (1.5 kg) in Puebla.[162] She initially stated that the father was a "graying gringo with a sombrero";[163] however, her mother revealed during police interviews that the biological father was the girl's stepfather, who had raped her.[164]

2012-01-24 January 24, 2012
Villanueva, Laura MarinaLaura Marina Villanueva[not in citation given]
7001100700000000000♠ 10 years,
7 months
Gaudencio Castañeda Pulido, her elder sister's 45-year-old partner
Peru  Peru
Laura Marina Villanueva, from Santa Marta, Peru. Her older sister's 45-year-old companion, a former soldier and her neighbor, raped the girl three times, just before her birthday on June 24. Her pregnancy was discovered in late September, at 19 weeks, by chance after she was admitted for a snake bite. The father, Gaudencio Castañeda Pulido, has been on the run when the discovery was reported in the media and continued threatening to kill the girl and her mother, Nidia Villanueva Tolentino. On January 24, 2012, she delivered a 2.21 kilograms (4.9 lb) boy by cesarean section, whom she named Justin, after singer Justin Bieber. Castañeda Pulido, who had previously impregnated the girl's then-15-year-old sister, was sentenced to 35 years in jail.[165][166]

2012-03-29 March 29, 2012
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100000000000000♠ 10 years
Unknown; a 15-year-old associate of the girl is suspected
Colombia  Colombia
A girl of the Wayuu people gave birth to a 2.6 kg (5.7 lb), 47 cm (19 in) girl by cesarean section at a clinic in Riohacha. She rejected her daughter.[167][168][169][170]

2012-05-00 May 2012
ZZ !Unidentified
7001100900000000000♠ 10 years,
9 months
Antônio Lisboa Filho, her 28-year-old father
Brazil  Brazil
In late December 2011, Antônio Lisboa Filho, age 28, discovered that his ten-and-a-half-year-old daughter, whom he had been raping regularly since she was eight, was 4 months pregnant. He fled from Coroatá, Maranhão with his wife Maria Alves Conceição and their other children, abandoning the girl with her maternal grandmother. Francisca Maria Conceição, the grandmother, alerted authorities of the rape and the parents' subsequent escape. As the pregnancy had advanced past the legal cut-off date for abortions, the girl delivered the baby via cesarean section in early May 2012, a month before term.[171] According to police testimony, the man is also suspected of raping the girl's 8-year-old sister.[172]

2012-05-11 May 11, 2012
ZZ !Unidentified
7001101100000000000♠ 10 years,
11 months
Her 15-year-old distant cousin
Argentina  Argentina
The girl, from San Miguel, Argentina, was admitted to the Vidal hospital in Corrientes in early March 2012 after complaining of stomach pains and a swollen stomach. After an ultrasound the doctors realized that she was 26 weeks pregnant. The young girl stated that a 15-year-old distant cousin raped her in late August 2011. He has since been prosecuted. She gave birth one month before term by cesarean section to a 2.420 kg (5.34 lb), 45 cm (18 in) girl, who was named Tatiana and placed in an incubator and on a drip-feed.[173]

2015-13-08 August 13, 2015
ZZ !Mainumby
7001100000000000000♠10 years
Gilberto Benítez Zárate, her 42-year-old stepfather
Paraguay  Paraguay
Brought to an Asunción hospital by her mother, who believed that she was developing a tumor, where doctors discovered that she was five months pregnant and alerted authorities. The doctors told the mother that her daughter's life was at risk and she requested an abortion to the Paraguayan government, which denied it. The case in turn generated debate nationally and abroad regarding Paraguay's strict anti-abortion laws.[174] The stepfather fled, but was arrested in Boquerón, Caazapá Department. He denied being the father but was identified as such through a DNA test. Mainumby's mother had denounced Benítez for sexual abuse of her daughter four times in the previous year, but the authorities never intervened. After the doctors's discovery, she was herself arrested and charged with negligence and sexual abuse of a child, and sentenced to two months in prison after being found guilty of the former.[175]


document_title: Law of the United States

question_text: one of the purposes of the us judicial system is to ___

question_tokens: one of the purposes of the us judicial system is to -- -- --

root

text: Law of the United States

text: General overview[edit]

text: Sources of law[edit]

text: In the United States, the law is derived from five sources: constitutional law, statutory law, treaties, administrative regulations, and the common law (which includes case law).[17]

tag: p

text: Constitutionality[edit]

text: Where Congress enacts a statute that conflicts with the Constitution, the Supreme Court may find that law unconstitutional and declare it invalid.[18]

text: Notably, a statute does not disappear automatically merely because it has been found unconstitutional; it must be deleted by a subsequent statute. Many federal and state statutes have remained on the books for decades after they were ruled to be unconstitutional. However, under the principle of stare decisis, no sensible lower court will enforce an unconstitutional statute, and any court that does so will be reversed by the Supreme Court.[19] Conversely, any court that refuses to enforce a constitutional statute (where such constitutionality has been expressly established in prior cases) will risk reversal by the Supreme Court.[20][21]

text: American common law[edit]

text: The United States and most Commonwealth countries are heirs to the common law legal tradition of English law.[22] Certain practices traditionally allowed under English common law were expressly outlawed by the Constitution, such as bills of attainder[23] and general search warrants.[24]

text: As common law courts, U.S. courts have inherited the principle of stare decisis.[25] American judges, like common law judges elsewhere, not only apply the law, they also make the law, to the extent that their decisions in the cases before them become precedent for decisions in future cases.[26]

text: The actual substance of English law was formally "received" into the United States in several ways. First, all U.S. states except Louisiana have enacted "reception statutes" which generally state that the common law of England (particularly judge-made law) is the law of the state to the extent that it is not repugnant to domestic law or indigenous conditions.[27] Some reception statutes impose a specific cutoff date for reception, such as the date of a colony's founding, while others are deliberately vague.[28] Thus, contemporary U.S. courts often cite pre-Revolution cases when discussing the evolution of an ancient judge-made common law principle into its modern form,[28] such as the heightened duty of care traditionally imposed upon common carriers.[29]

text: Second, a small number of important British statutes in effect at the time of the Revolution have been independently reenacted by U.S. states. Two examples that many lawyers will recognize are the Statute of Frauds (still widely known in the U.S. by that name) and the Statute of 13 Elizabeth (the ancestor of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act). Such English statutes are still regularly cited in contemporary American cases interpreting their modern American descendants.[30]

text: However, it is important to understand that despite the presence of reception statutes, much of contemporary American common law has diverged significantly from English common law.[31] The reason is that although the courts of the various Commonwealth nations are often influenced by each other's rulings, American courts rarely follow post-Revolution Commonwealth rulings unless there is no American ruling on point, the facts and law at issue are nearly identical, and the reasoning is strongly persuasive.

text: Early on, American courts, even after the Revolution, often did cite contemporary English cases. This was because appellate decisions from many American courts were not regularly reported until the mid-19th century; lawyers and judges, as creatures of habit, used English legal materials to fill the gap.[32] But citations to English decisions gradually disappeared during the 19th century as American courts developed their own principles to resolve the legal problems of the American people.[33] The number of published volumes of American reports soared from eighteen in 1810 to over 8,000 by 1910.[34] By 1879 one of the delegates to the California constitutional convention was already complaining: "Now, when we require them to state the reasons for a decision, we do not mean they shall write a hundred pages of detail. We [do] not mean that they shall include the small cases, and impose on the country all this fine judicial literature, for the Lord knows we have got enough of that already."[35]

text: Today, in the words of Stanford law professor Lawrence Friedman: "American cases rarely cite foreign materials. Courts occasionally cite a British classic or two, a famous old case, or a nod to Blackstone; but current British law almost never gets any mention."[36] Foreign law has never been cited as binding precedent, but as a reflection of the shared values of Anglo-American civilization or even Western civilization in general.[37]

text: Levels of law[edit]

text: Federal law[edit]

text: Federal law originates with the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to enact statutes for certain limited purposes like regulating interstate commerce. The United States Code is the official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes. Many statutes give executive branch agencies the power to create regulations, which are published in the Federal Register and codified into the Code of Federal Regulations. Regulations generally also carry the force of law under the Chevron doctrine. Many lawsuits turn on the meaning of a federal statute or regulation, and judicial interpretations of such meaning carry legal force under the principle of stare decisis.

text: During the 18th and 19th centuries, federal law traditionally focused on areas where there was an express grant of power to the federal government in the federal Constitution, like the military, money, foreign relations (especially international treaties), tariffs, intellectual property (specifically patents and copyrights), and mail. Since the start of the 20th century, broad interpretations of the Commerce and Spending Clauses of the Constitution have enabled federal law to expand into areas like aviation, telecommunications, railroads, pharmaceuticals, antitrust, and trademarks. In some areas, like aviation and railroads, the federal government has developed a comprehensive scheme that preempts virtually all state law, while in others, like family law, a relatively small number of federal statutes (generally covering interstate and international situations) interacts with a much larger body of state law. In areas like antitrust, trademark, and employment law, there are powerful laws at both the federal and state levels that coexist with each other. In a handful of areas like insurance, Congress has enacted laws expressly refusing to regulate them as long as the states have laws regulating them (see, e.g., the McCarran-Ferguson Act).

text: Statutes[edit]

text: After the President signs a bill into law (or Congress enacts it over his veto), it is delivered to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) where it is assigned a law number, and prepared for publication as a slip law.[38] Public laws, but not private laws, are also given legal statutory citation by the OFR. At the end of each session of Congress, the slip laws are compiled into bound volumes called the United States Statutes at Large, and they are known as session laws. The Statutes at Large present a chronological arrangement of the laws in the exact order that they have been enacted.

text: Public laws are incorporated into the United States Code, which is a codification of all general and permanent laws of the United States. The main edition is published every six years by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives, and cumulative supplements are published annually.[39] The U.S. Code is arranged by subject matter, and it shows the present status of laws (with amendments already incorporated in the text) that have been amended on one or more occasions.

text: Regulations[edit]

text: Congress often enacts statutes that grant broad rulemaking authority to federal agencies. Often, Congress is simply too gridlocked to draft detailed statutes that explain how the agency should react to every possible situation, or Congress believes the agency's technical specialists are best equipped to deal with particular fact situations as they arise. Therefore, federal agencies are authorized to promulgate regulations. Under the principle of Chevron deference, regulations normally carry the force of law as long as they are based on a reasonable interpretation of the relevant statutes.[40]

text: Regulations are adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Regulations are first proposed and published in the Federal Register (FR or Fed. Reg.) and subject to a public comment period. Eventually, after a period for public comment and revisions based on comments received, a final version is published in the Federal Register. The regulations are codified and incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which is published once a year on a rolling schedule.

text: Besides regulations formally promulgated under the APA, federal agencies also frequently promulgate an enormous amount of forms, manuals, policy statements, letters, and rulings. These documents may be considered by a court as persuasive authority as to how a particular statute or regulation may be interpreted (known as Skidmore deference), but are not entitled to Chevron deference.

text: Common law, case law, and precedent[edit]

text: Unlike the situation with the states, there is no plenary reception statute at the federal level that continued the common law and thereby granted federal courts the power to formulate legal precedent like their English predecessors. Federal courts are solely creatures of the federal Constitution and the federal Judiciary Acts.[41] However, it is universally accepted that the Founding Fathers of the United States, by vesting "judicial power" into the Supreme Court and the inferior federal courts in Article Three of the United States Constitution, thereby vested in them the implied judicial power of common law courts to formulate persuasive precedent; this power was widely accepted, understood, and recognized by the Founding Fathers at the time the Constitution was ratified.[42] Several legal scholars have argued that the federal judicial power to decide "cases or controversies" necessarily includes the power to decide the precedential effect of those cases and controversies.[43]

text: The difficult question is whether federal judicial power extends to formulating binding precedent through strict adherence to the rule of stare decisis. This is where the act of deciding a case becomes a limited form of lawmaking in itself, in that an appellate court's rulings will thereby bind itself and lower courts in future cases (and therefore also impliedly binds all persons within the court's jurisdiction). Prior to a major change to federal court rules in 2007, about one-fifth of federal appellate cases were published and thereby became binding precedents, while the rest were unpublished and bound only the parties to each case.[42]

text: As federal judge Alex Kozinski has pointed out, binding precedent as we know it today simply did not exist at the time the Constitution was framed.[42] Judicial decisions were not consistently, accurately, and faithfully reported on both sides of the Atlantic (reporters often simply rewrote or failed to publish decisions which they disliked), and the United Kingdom lacked a coherent court hierarchy prior to the end of the 19th century.[42] Furthermore, English judges in the eighteenth century subscribed to now-obsolete natural law theories of law, by which law was believed to have an existence independent of what individual judges said. Judges saw themselves as merely declaring the law which had always theoretically existed, and not as making the law.[42] Therefore, a judge could reject another judge's opinion as simply an incorrect statement of the law, in the way that scientists regularly reject each other's conclusions as incorrect statements of the laws of science.[42]

text: In turn, according to Kozinski's analysis, the contemporary rule of binding precedent became possible in the U.S. in the nineteenth century only after the creation of a clear court hierarchy (under the Judiciary Acts), and the beginning of regular verbatim publication of U.S. appellate decisions by West Publishing.[42] The rule gradually developed, case-by-case, as an extension of the judiciary's public policy of effective judicial administration (that is, in order to efficiently exercise the judicial power).[42] The rule of precedent is generally justified today as a matter of public policy, first, as a matter of fundamental fairness, and second, because in the absence of case law, it would be completely unworkable for every minor issue in every legal case to be briefed, argued, and decided from first principles (such as relevant statutes, constitutional provisions, and underlying public policies), which in turn would create hopeless inefficiency, instability, and unpredictability, and thereby undermine the rule of law.[44][45]

text: Here is a typical exposition of that public policy in a 2008 majority opinion signed by Associate Justice Stephen Breyer:

text: Justice Brandeis once observed that "in most matters it is more important that the applicable rule of law be settled than that it be settled right." Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. [...] To overturn a decision settling one such matter simply because we might believe that decision is no longer "right" would inevitably reflect a willingness to reconsider others. And that willingness could itself threaten to substitute disruption, confusion, and uncertainty for necessary legal stability. We have not found here any factors that might overcome these considerations.[46]

text: It is now sometimes possible, over time, for a line of precedents to drift from the express language of any underlying statutory or constitutional texts until the courts' decisions establish doctrines that were not considered by the texts' drafters. This trend has been strongly evident in federal substantive due process[47] and Commerce Clause decisions.[48] Originalists and political conservatives, such as Associate Justice Antonin Scalia have criticized this trend as anti-democratic.[49][50][51][52]

text: Under the doctrine of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938), there is no general federal common law. Although federal courts can create federal common law in the form of case law, such law must be linked one way or another to the interpretation of a particular federal constitutional provision, statute, or regulation (which in turn was enacted as part of the Constitution or after). Federal courts lack the plenary power possessed by state courts to simply make up law, which the latter are able to do in the absence of constitutional or statutory provisions replacing the common law. Only in a few narrow limited areas, like maritime law,[53] has the Constitution expressly authorized the continuation of English common law at the federal level (meaning that in those areas federal courts can continue to make law as they see fit, subject to the limitations of stare decisis).

text: The other major implication of the Erie doctrine is that federal courts cannot dictate the content of state law when there is no federal issue (and thus no federal supremacy issue) in a case.[54] When hearing claims under state law pursuant to diversity jurisdiction, federal trial courts must apply the statutory and decisional law of the state in which they sit, as if they were a court of that state,[55] even if they believe that the relevant state law is irrational or just bad public policy.[56] And under Erie, deference is one-way only: state courts are not bound by federal interpretations of state law.[57]

text: Although judicial interpretations of federal law from the federal district and intermediate appellate courts hold great persuasive weight, state courts are not bound to follow those interpretations.[58] There is only one federal court that binds all state courts as to the interpretation of federal law and the federal Constitution: the U.S. Supreme Court itself.[59]

text: State law[edit]

text: The fifty American states are separate sovereigns,[60] with their own state constitutions, state governments, and state courts. All states have a legislative branch which enacts state statutes, an executive branch that promulgates state regulations pursuant to statutory authorization, and a judicial branch that applies, interprets, and occasionally overturns both state statutes and regulations, as well as local ordinances. They retain plenary power to make laws covering anything not preempted by the federal Constitution, federal statutes, or international treaties ratified by the federal Senate. Normally, state supreme courts are the final interpreters of state constitutions and state law, unless their interpretation itself presents a federal issue, in which case a decision may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by way of a petition for writ of certiorari.[61] State laws have dramatically diverged in the centuries since independence, to the extent that the United States cannot be regarded as one legal system as to the majority of types of law traditionally under state control, but must be regarded as 50 separate systems of tort law, family law, property law, contract law, criminal law, and so on.[62]

text: Most cases are litigated in state courts and involve claims and defenses under state laws.[63][64] In a 2012 report, the National Center for State Courts' Court Statistics Project found that state trial courts received 103.5 million newly filed cases in 2010, which consisted of 56.3 million traffic cases, 20.4 million criminal cases, 19.0 million civil cases, 5.9 million domestic relations cases, and 1.9 million juvenile cases.[65] In 2010, state appellate courts received 272,795 new cases.[66] By way of comparison, all federal district courts in 2016 together received only about 274,552 new civil cases, 79,787 new criminal cases, and 833,515 bankruptcy cases, while federal appellate courts received 53,649 new cases.[67]

text: State legal systems[edit]

text:
Law of Alabama
Law of Alaska
Law of Arizona
Law of Arkansas
Law of California
Law of Colorado
Law of Connecticut
Law of Delaware
Law of Florida
Law of Georgia (U.S. state)
Law of Hawaii
Law of Idaho
Law of Illinois
Law of Indiana
Law of Iowa
Law of Kansas
Law of Kentucky
Law of Louisiana
Law of Maine
Law of Maryland
Law of Massachusetts
Law of Michigan
Law of Minnesota
Law of Mississippi
Law of Missouri
Law of Montana
Law of Nebraska
Law of Nevada
Law of New Hampshire
Law of New Jersey
Law of New Mexico
Law of New York
Law of North Carolina
Law of North Dakota
Law of Ohio
Law of Oklahoma
Law of Oregon
Law of Pennsylvania
Law of Rhode Island
Law of South Carolina
Law of South Dakota
Law of Tennessee
Law of Texas
Law of Utah
Law of Vermont
Law of Virginia
Law of Washington
Law of West Virginia
Law of Wisconsin
Law of Wyoming

tag: ul

text: Local law[edit]

text: States have delegated lawmaking powers to thousands of agencies, townships, counties, cities, and special districts. And all the state constitutions, statutes and regulations (as well as all the ordinances and regulations promulgated by local entities) are subject to judicial interpretation like their federal counterparts.[68]

text: It is common for residents of major U.S. metropolitan areas to live under six or more layers of special districts as well as a town or city, and a county or township (in addition to the federal and state governments).[69] Thus, at any given time, the average American citizen is subject to the rules and regulations of several dozen different agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, depending upon one's current location and behavior.

text: Legal subjects[edit]

text: American lawyers draw a fundamental distinction between procedural law (which controls the procedure followed by courts and parties to legal cases) and substantive law (the actual substance, or principles of law, which is what most people think of as law).[70]

text: Criminal law and procedure[edit]

text: Criminal law involves the prosecution by the state of wrongful acts which are considered to be so serious that they are a breach of the sovereign's peace (and cannot be deterred or remedied by mere lawsuits between private parties). Generally, crimes can result in incarceration, but torts (see below) cannot. The majority of the crimes committed in the United States are prosecuted and punished at the state level. Federal criminal law focuses on areas specifically relevant to the federal government like evading payment of federal income tax, mail theft, or physical attacks on federal officials, as well as interstate crimes like drug trafficking and wire fraud.

text: All states have somewhat similar laws in regard to "higher crimes" (or felonies), such as murder and rape, although penalties for these crimes may vary from state to state. Capital punishment is permitted in some states but not others. Three strikes laws in certain states impose harsh penalties on repeat offenders.

text: Some states distinguish between two levels: felonies and misdemeanors (minor crimes). Generally, most felony convictions result in lengthy prison sentences as well as subsequent probation, large fines, and orders to pay restitution directly to victims; while misdemeanors may lead to a year or less in jail and a substantial fine. To simplify the prosecution of traffic violations and other relatively minor crimes, some states have added a third level, infractions. These may result in fines and sometimes the loss of one's driver's license, but no jail time.

text: For public welfare offenses where the state is punishing merely risky (as opposed to injurious) behavior, there is significant diversity across the various states. For example, punishments for drunk driving varied greatly prior to 1990. State laws dealing with drug crimes still vary widely, with some states treating possession of small amounts of drugs as a misdemeanor offense or as a medical issue and others categorizing the same offense as a serious felony.

text: The law of criminal procedure in the United States consists of a massive overlay of federal constitutional case law interwoven with the federal and state statutes that actually provide the foundation for the creation and operation of law enforcement agencies and prison systems as well as the proceedings in criminal trials. Due to the perennial inability of legislatures in the U.S. to enact statutes that would actually force law enforcement officers to respect the constitutional rights of criminal suspects and convicts, the federal judiciary gradually developed the exclusionary rule as a method to enforce such rights.[71] In turn, the exclusionary rule spawned a family of judge-made remedies for the abuse of law enforcement powers, of which the most famous is the Miranda warning. The writ of habeas corpus is often used by suspects and convicts to challenge their detention, while the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and Bivens actions are used by suspects to recover tort damages for police brutality.

text: Civil procedure[edit]

text: The law of civil procedure governs process in all judicial proceedings involving lawsuits between private parties. Traditional common law pleading was replaced by code pleading in 24 states after New York enacted the Field Code in 1850 and code pleading in turn was subsequently replaced again in most states by modern notice pleading during the 20th century. The old English division between common law and equity courts was abolished in the federal courts by the adoption of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1938; it has also been independently abolished by legislative acts in nearly all states. The Delaware Court of Chancery is the most prominent of the small number of remaining equity courts.

text: Thirty-five states have adopted rules of civil procedure modeled after the FRCP (including rule numbers). However, in doing so, they had to make some modifications to account for the fact that state courts have broad general jurisdiction while federal courts have relatively limited jurisdiction.

text: New York, Illinois, and California are the most significant states that have not adopted the FRCP. Furthermore, all three states continue to maintain most of their civil procedure laws in the form of codified statutes enacted by the state legislature, as opposed to court rules promulgated by the state supreme court, on the ground that the latter are undemocratic. But certain key portions of their civil procedure laws have been modified by their legislatures to bring them closer to federal civil procedure.[72]

text: Generally, American civil procedure has several notable features, including extensive pretrial discovery, heavy reliance on live testimony obtained at deposition or elicited in front of a jury, and aggressive pretrial "law and motion" practice designed to result in a pretrial disposition (that is, summary judgment) or a settlement. U.S. courts pioneered the concept of the opt-out class action, by which the burden falls on class members to notify the court that they do not wish to be bound by the judgment, as opposed to opt-in class actions, where class members must join into the class. Another unique feature is the so-called American Rule under which parties generally bear their own attorneys' fees (as opposed to the English Rule of "loser pays"), though American legislators and courts have carved out numerous exceptions.

text: Contract law[edit]

text: Contract law covers obligations established by agreement (express or implied) between private parties. Generally, contract law in transactions involving the sale of goods has become highly standardized nationwide as a result of the widespread adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code. However, there is still significant diversity in the interpretation of other kinds of contracts, depending upon the extent to which a given state has codified its common law of contracts or adopted portions of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts.

text: Parties are permitted to agree to arbitrate disputes arising from their contracts. Under the Federal Arbitration Act (which has been interpreted to cover all contracts arising under federal or state law), arbitration clauses are generally enforceable unless the party resisting arbitration can show unconscionability or fraud or something else which undermines the entire contract.

text: Tort law[edit]

text: Tort law generally covers any civil action between private parties arising from wrongful acts which amount to a breach of general obligations imposed by law and not by contract.

text: Tort law covers the entire imaginable spectrum of wrongs which humans can inflict upon each other, and of course, partially overlaps with wrongs also punishable by criminal law. Although the American Law Institute has attempted to standardize tort law through the development of several versions of the Restatement of Torts, many states have chosen to adopt only certain sections of the Restatements and to reject others. Thus, because of its immense size and diversity, American tort law cannot be easily summarized.

text: For example, a few jurisdictions allow actions for negligent infliction of emotional distress even in the absence of physical injury to the plaintiff, but most do not. For any particular tort, states differ on the causes of action, types and scope of remedies, statutes of limitations, and the amount of specificity with which one must plead the cause. With practically any aspect of tort law, there is a "majority rule" adhered to by most states, and one or more "minority rules."

text: Notably, the most broadly influential innovation of 20th-century American tort law was the rule of strict liability for defective products, which originated with judicial glosses on the law of warranty. In 1963, Roger J. Traynor of the Supreme Court of California threw away legal fictions based on warranties and imposed strict liability for defective products as a matter of public policy in the landmark case of Greenman v. Yuba Power Products.[73] The American Law Institute subsequently adopted a slightly different version of the Greenman rule in Section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which was published in 1964 and was very influential throughout the United States.[74] Outside the U.S., the rule was adopted by the European Economic Community in the Product Liability Directive of July 1985[75] by Australia in July 1992[76] and by Japan in June 1994.[77]

text: By the 1990s, the avalanche of American cases resulting from Greenman and Section 402A had become so complicated that another restatement was needed, which occurred with the 1997 publication of the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability.[78]


document_title: g-force

question_text: how many g's do astronauts experience during takeoff

question_tokens: how many g 's do astronauts experience during takeoff

text: g-force

text: Unit and measurement[edit]

text: The unit of measure of acceleration in the International System of Units (SI) is m/s2. However, to distinguish acceleration relative to free fall from simple acceleration (rate of change of velocity), the unit g (or g) is often used.  One g is the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface and is the standard gravity (symbol: gn), defined as 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 metres per second squared,[3] or equivalently 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 newtons of force per kilogram of mass. Note that the unit definition does not vary with location—the g-force when standing on the moon is about 0.181 g.

text: The unit g is not one of the SI units, which uses "g" for gram.  Also, "g" should not be confused with "G", which is the standard symbol for the gravitational constant.[4] This notation is commonly used in aviation, especially in aerobatic or combat military aviation, to describe the increased forces that must be overcome by pilots in order to remain conscious and not G-LOC (G-induced loss of consciousness).[5]

text: Measurement of g-force is typically achieved using an accelerometer (see discussion below in Measurement using an accelerometer). In certain cases, g-forces may be measured using suitably calibrated scales. Specific force is another name that has been used for g-force.

text: Acceleration and forces[edit]

text: The term g-force is technically incorrect as it is a measure of acceleration, not force. While acceleration is a vector quantity, g-force accelerations ("g-forces" for short) are often expressed as a scalar, with positive g-forces pointing downward (indicating upward acceleration), and negative g-forces pointing upward. Thus, a g-force is a vector acceleration. It is an acceleration that must be produced by a mechanical force, and cannot be produced by simple gravitation. Objects acted upon only by gravitation, experience (or "feel") no g-force, and are weightless.

text: G-forces, when multiplied by a mass upon which they act, are associated with a certain type of mechanical force in the correct sense of the term force, and this force produces compressive stress and tensile stress. Such forces result in the operational sensation of weight, but the equation carries a sign change due to the definition of positive weight in the direction downward, so the direction of weight-force is opposite to the direction of g-force acceleration:

text: The reason for the minus sign is that the actual force (i.e., measured weight) on an object produced by a g-force is in the opposite direction to the sign of the g-force, since in physics, weight is not the force that produces the acceleration, but rather the equal-and-opposite reaction force to it. If the direction upward is taken as positive (the normal cartesian convention) then positive g-force (an acceleration vector that points upward) produces a force/weight on any mass, that acts downward (an example is positive-g acceleration of a rocket launch, producing downward weight). In the same way, a negative-g force is an acceleration vector downward (the negative direction on the y axis), and this acceleration downward produces a weight-force in a direction upward (thus pulling a pilot upward out of the seat, and forcing blood toward the head of a normally oriented pilot).

text: If a g-force (acceleration) is vertically upward and is applied by the ground (which is accelerating through space-time) or applied by the floor of an elevator to a standing person, most of the body experiences compressive stress which at any height, if multiplied by the area, is the related mechanical force, which is the product of the g-force and the supported mass (the mass above the level of support, including arms hanging down from above that level). At the same time, the arms themselves experience a tensile stress, which at any height, if multiplied by the area, is again the related mechanical force, which is the product of the g-force and the mass hanging below the point of mechanical support. The mechanical resistive force spreads from points of contact with the floor or supporting structure, and gradually decreases toward zero at the unsupported ends (the top in the case of support from below, such as a seat or the floor, the bottom for a hanging part of the body or object). With compressive force counted as negative tensile force, the rate of change of the tensile force in the direction of the g-force, per unit mass (the change between parts of the object such that the slice of the object between them has unit mass), is equal to the g-force plus the non-gravitational external forces on the slice, if any (counted positive in the direction opposite to the g-force).

text: For a given g-force the stresses are the same, regardless of whether this g-force is caused by mechanical resistance to gravity, or by a coordinate-acceleration (change in velocity) caused by a mechanical force, or by a combination of these. Hence, for people all mechanical forces feels exactly the same whether they cause coordinate acceleration or not. For objects likewise, the question of whether they can withstand the mechanical g-force without damage is the same for any type of g-force. For example, upward acceleration (e.g., increase of speed when going up or decrease of speed when going down) on Earth feels the same as being stationary on a celestial body with a higher surface gravity. Gravitation acting alone does not produce any g-force; g-force is only produced from mechanical pushes and pulls. For a free body (one that is free to move in space) such g-forces only arise as the "inertial" path that is the natural effect of gravitation, or the natural effect of the inertia of mass, is modified. Such modification may only arise from influences other than gravitation.

text: Examples of important situations involving g-forces include:

text:
The g-force acting on a stationary object resting on the Earth's surface is 1 g (upwards) and results from the resisting reaction of the Earth's surface bearing upwards equal to an acceleration of 1 g, and is equal and opposite to gravity. The number 1 is approximate, depending on location.
The g-force acting on an object in any weightless environment such as free-fall in a vacuum is 0 g.
The g-force acting on an object under acceleration can be much greater than 1 g, for example, the dragster pictured at top right can exert a horizontal g-force of 5.3 when accelerating.
The g-force acting on an object under acceleration may be downwards, for example when cresting a sharp hill on a roller coaster.
If there are no other external forces than gravity, the g-force in a rocket is the thrust per unit mass. Its magnitude is equal to the thrust-to-weight ratio times g, and to the consumption of delta-v per unit time.
In the case of a shock, e.g., a collision, the g-force can be very large during a short time.

text: A classic example of negative g-force is in a fully inverted roller coaster which is accelerating (changing velocity) toward the ground. In this case, the roller coaster riders are accelerated toward the ground faster than gravity would accelerate them, and are thus pinned upside down in their seats. In this case, the mechanical force exerted by the seat causes the g-force by altering the path of the passenger downward in a way that differs from gravitational acceleration. The difference in downward motion, now faster than gravity would provide, is caused by the push of the seat, and it results in a g-force toward the ground.

text: All "coordinate accelerations" (or lack of them), are described by Newton's laws of motion as follows:

text: The Second Law of Motion, the law of acceleration states that: F = ma., meaning that a force F acting on a body is equal to the mass m of the body times its acceleration a.

text:
The Third Law of Motion, the law of reciprocal actions states that: all forces occur in pairs, and these two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Newton's third law of motion means that not only does gravity behave as a force acting downwards on, say, a rock held in your hand but also that the rock exerts a force on the Earth, equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

text: In an airplane, the pilot’s seat can be thought of as the hand holding the rock, the pilot as the rock. When flying straight and level at 1 g, the pilot is acted upon by the force of gravity. His weight (a downward force) is 725 newtons (163 lbf). In accordance with Newton’s third law, the plane and the seat underneath the pilot provides an equal and opposite force pushing upwards with a force of 725 N (163 lbf). This mechanical force provides the 1.0 g-force upward proper acceleration on the pilot, even though this velocity in the upward direction does not change (this is similar to the situation of a person standing on the ground, where the ground provides this force and this g-force).

text: If the pilot were suddenly to pull back on the stick and make his plane accelerate upwards at 9.8 m/s2, the total g‑force on his body is 2 g, half of which comes from the seat pushing the pilot to resist gravity, and half from the seat pushing the pilot to cause his upward acceleration—a change in velocity which also is a proper acceleration because it also differs from a free fall trajectory. Considered in the frame of reference of the plane his body is now generating a force of 1,450 N (330 lbf) downwards into his seat and the seat is simultaneously pushing upwards with an equal force of 1,450 N (330 lbf).

text: Unopposed acceleration due to mechanical forces, and consequentially g-force, is experienced whenever anyone rides in a vehicle because it always causes a proper acceleration, and (in the absence of gravity) also always a coordinate acceleration (where velocity changes). Whenever the vehicle changes either direction or speed, the occupants feel lateral (side to side) or longitudinal (forward and backwards) forces produced by the mechanical push of their seats.

text: The expression "1 g = 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 m/s2" means that for every second that elapses, velocity changes 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 meters per second (≡7000980665000000000♠35.30394 km/h). This rate of change in velocity can also be denoted as 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 (meter per second) per second, or 7000980665000000000♠9.80665 m/s2. For example: An acceleration of 1 g equates to a rate of change in velocity of approximately 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph) for each second that elapses. Therefore, if an automobile is capable of braking at 1 g and is traveling at 35 kilometres per hour (22 mph) it can brake to a standstill in one second and the driver will experience a deceleration of 1 g. The automobile traveling at three times this speed, 105 km/h (65 mph), can brake to a standstill in three seconds.

text: In the case of an increase in speed from 0 to v with constant acceleration within a distance of s this acceleration is v2/(2s).

text: Preparing an object for g-tolerance (not getting damaged when subjected to a high g-force) is called g-hardening.[citation needed]   This may apply to, e.g., instruments in a projectile shot by a gun.

text: Human tolerance[edit]

text: Human tolerances depend on the magnitude of the g-force, the length of time it is applied, the direction it acts, the location of application, and the posture of the body.[7][8]:350

text: The human body is flexible and deformable, particularly the softer tissues. A hard slap on the face may briefly impose hundreds of g locally but not produce any real damage; a constant 16 g for a minute, however, may be deadly. When vibration is experienced, relatively low peak g levels can be severely damaging if they are at the resonance frequency of organs or connective tissues.

text: To some degree, g-tolerance can be trainable, and there is also considerable variation in innate ability between individuals. In addition, some illnesses, particularly cardiovascular problems, reduce g-tolerance.

text: Vertical[edit]

text: Aircraft pilots (in particular) sustain g-forces along the axis aligned with the spine. This causes significant variation in blood pressure along the length of the subject's body, which limits the maximum g-forces that can be tolerated.

text: Positive, or "upward" g, drives blood downward to the feet of a seated or standing person (more naturally, the feet and body may be seen as being driven by the upward force of the floor and seat, upward around the blood). Resistance to positive g varies. A typical person can handle about 5 g0 (49 m/s2) (meaning some people might pass out when riding a higher-g roller coaster, which in some cases exceeds this point) before losing consciousness, but through the combination of special g-suits and efforts to strain muscles—both of which act to force blood back into the brain—modern pilots can typically handle a sustained 9 g0 (88 m/s2) (see High-G training)[citation needed].

text: In aircraft particularly, vertical g-forces are often positive (force blood towards the feet and away from the head); this causes problems with the eyes and brain in particular. As positive vertical g-force is progressively increased (such as in a centrifuge) the following symptoms may be experienced:

text:
Grey-out, where the vision loses hue, easily reversible on levelling out.
Tunnel vision, where peripheral vision is progressively lost.
Blackout, a loss of vision while consciousness is maintained, caused by a lack of blood to the head.
G-LOC, a g-force induced loss of consciousness.[9]
Death, if g-forces are not quickly reduced, death can occur.[10]

text: Resistance to "negative" or "downward" g, which drives blood to the head, is much lower. This limit is typically in the −2 to −3 g0 (−20 to −29 m/s2) range.  This condition is sometimes referred to as red out where vision is figuratively reddened[11] due to the blood laden lower eyelid being pulled into the field of vision[12]  Negative g is generally unpleasant and can cause damage. Blood vessels in the eyes or brain may swell or burst under the increased blood pressure, resulting in degraded sight or even blindness.

text: Horizontal[edit]

text: The human body is better at surviving g-forces that are perpendicular to the spine. In general when the acceleration is forwards (subject essentially lying on their back, colloquially known as "eyeballs in"[13]) a much higher tolerance is shown than when the acceleration is backwards (lying on their front, "eyeballs out") since blood vessels in the retina appear more sensitive in the latter direction[citation needed].

text: Early experiments showed that untrained humans were able to tolerate a range of accelerations depending on the time of exposure. This ranged from as much as 20 g for less than 10 seconds, to 10 g for 1 minute, and 6 g for 10 minutes for both eyeballs in and out.[14] These forces were endured with cognitive facilities intact, as subjects were able to perform simple physical and communication tasks. The tests were determined to not cause long or short term harm although tolerance was quite subjective, with only the most motivated non-pilots capable of completing tests.[15] The record for peak experimental horizontal g-force tolerance is held by acceleration pioneer John Stapp, in a series of rocket sled deceleration experiments culminating in a late 1954 test in which he was clocked in a little over a second from a land speed of Mach 0.9. He survived a peak "eyeballs-out" acceleration of 46.2 times the acceleration of gravity, and more than 25 g for 1.1 seconds, proving that the human body is capable of this. Stapp lived another 45 years to age 89[16] without any ill effects.[17]

text:
The highest recorded G-force experienced by a human who survived was during the 2003 IndyCar Series finale at Texas Motor Speedway on October 12, 2003 in the 2003 Chevy 500 when the car driven by Kenny Bräck made wheel-to-wheel contact with Tomas Scheckter's car. This immediately resulted in Bräck's car impacting the catch fence that would record a peak of 214 G-force.
[18][19]

text: Short duration shock, impact, and jerk[edit]

text: Impact  and mechanical shock are usually used to describe a high kinetic energy, short term excitation.  A shock pulse is often measured by its peak acceleration in g-s and the pulse duration. Vibration is a periodic oscillation which can also be measured in g-s as well as frequency.  The dynamics of these phenomena are what distinguish them from the g-forces caused by a relatively longer term accelerations.

text:
After a free fall from a height

h

{\displaystyle h}

 the shock on an object during impact is

h

/

d

{\displaystyle h/d}

 g, where

d

{\displaystyle d}

 is the distance covered during the impact. For example, a stiff and compact object dropped from 1 m that impacts over a distance of 1 mm is subjected to a 1000 g deceleration.

text: Jerk is the rate of change of acceleration. In SI units, jerk is expressed as m/s3; it can also be expressed in standard gravity per second (g/s; 1 g/s ≈ 9.81 m/s3).

text: Other biological responses[edit]

text: Recent research carried out on extremophiles in Japan involved a variety of bacteria including E. coli and Paracoccus denitrificans being subject to conditions of extreme gravity. The bacteria were cultivated while being rotated in an ultracentrifuge at high speeds corresponding to 403,627 g. Paracoccus denitrificans was one of the bacteria which displayed not only survival but also robust cellular growth under these conditions of hyperacceleration which are usually only to be found in cosmic environments, such as on very massive stars or in the shock waves of supernovas. Analysis showed that the small size of prokaryotic cells is essential for successful growth under hypergravity. The research has implications on the feasibility of panspermia.[20][21]

text: Typical examples[edit]

text:
Example

g-force*

The gyro rotors in Gravity Probe B and the frmaee-floating proof masses in the TRIAD I navigation satellite[22]

0 g

A ride in the Vomit Comet (parabolic flight)

≈ 0 g

Standing on the Moon at its equator

0.1654 g

Standing on the Earth at sea level–standard

1 g

Saturn V moon rocket just after launch

1.14 g

Bugatti Veyron from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.4 s

1.55 g†

Gravitron amusement ride

2.5-3 g

Space Shuttle, maximum during launch and reentry

3 g

High-g roller coasters[8]:340

3.5–6.3 g

Top Fuel drag racing world record of 4.4 s over 1/4 mile

4.2 g

First world war aircraft (ex:Sopwith Camel, Fokker Dr.1, SPAD S.XIII, Nieuport 17, Albatros D.III) in dogfight maneuvering.

4.5–7 g

Formula One car, maximum under heavy braking[23]

6.3 g

Formula One car, peak lateral in turns[24]

6–6.5 g

Luge, maximum expected at the Whistler Sliding Centre

5.2 g

Standard, full aerobatics certified glider

+7/−5 g

Apollo 16 on reentry[25]

7.19 g

Maximum permitted g-force  in Sukhoi Su-27 plane

9g

Maximum permitted g-force  in Mikoyan MiG-35 plane

10g

Maximum permitted g-force turn in Red Bull Air Race plane

10g

Maximum  g-force in Tor missile system[26]

30g

Maximum for human on a rocket sled

46.2 g

Sprint missile

100 g

Brief human exposure survived in crash[27]

> 100 g

Space gun with a barrel length of 1 km and a muzzle velocity of 6 km/s, as proposed by Quicklaunch (assuming constant acceleration)

1,800 g

Shock capability of mechanical wrist watches[28][29]

> 5,000 g

V8 Formula One engine, maximum piston acceleration[30]

8,600 g

Mantis Shrimp, acceleration of claw during predatory strike[31]

10,400 g

Rating of electronics built into military artillery shells[32]

15,500 g

Analytical ultracentrifuge spinning at 60,000 rpm, at the bottom of the analysis cell (7.2 cm)[33]

300,000 g

Mean acceleration of a proton in the Large Hadron Collider[34]

190,000,000 g

Gravitational acceleration at the surface of a typical neutron star[35]

7008200000000000000♠2.0×1011 g

Acceleration from a wakefield plasma accelerator[36]

7017890000000000000♠8.9×1020 g

tag: table

text:
* Including contribution from resistance to gravity.
† Directed 40 degrees from horizontal.

text: Measurement using an accelerometer[edit]

text: An accelerometer, in its simplest form, is a damped mass on the end of a spring, with some way of measuring how far the mass has moved on the spring in a particular direction, called an 'axis'.

text: Accelerometers are often calibrated to measure g-force along one or more axes. If a stationary, single-axis accelerometer is oriented so that its measuring axis is horizontal, its output will be 0 g, and it will continue to be 0 g if mounted in an automobile traveling at a constant velocity on a level road. When the driver presses on the brake or gas pedal, the accelerometer will register positive or negative acceleration.

text: If the accelerometer is rotated by 90° so that it is vertical, it will read +1 g upwards even though stationary. In that situation, the accelerometer is subject to two forces: the gravitational force and the ground reaction force of the surface it is resting on. Only the latter force can be measured by the accelerometer, due to mechanical interaction between the accelerometer and the ground. The reading is the acceleration the instrument would have if it were exclusively subject to that force.

text: A three-axis accelerometer will output zero‑g on all three axes if it is dropped or otherwise put into a ballistic trajectory (also known as an inertial trajectory), so that it experiences "free fall," as do astronauts in orbit (astronauts experience small tidal accelerations called microgravity, which are neglected for the sake of discussion here). Some amusement park rides can provide several seconds at near-zero g. Riding NASA's "Vomit Comet" provides near-zero g for about 25 seconds at a time.