One-size-fits-all laws are a bad idea in an ever-changing culture where every circumstance is different.

Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to protecting our children.

A Louisville lawmaker has proposed legislation that would set 11 years old as the minimum age that a child could be held legally responsible for their actions and charged with a crime. Current state law does not have a minimum age.

Although this measure looks good on paper, it seems to be a case of legislating to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist.

Application of this in the real world could be far more problematic as it takes the decision-making process away from prosecutors.

Certainly, children under the age of 11 are not fully aware of the consequences of their actions but to create a blanket legal loophole that completely absolves them of any consequences seems to be a slippery slope and opens the door for abuse by parents who could perceive this is a free pass for allowing their child to break the law.

This appears to be a classic case of “if it’s not broken why fix it?”

Lawmakers have far more important issues to worry about and should leave this in the discretion of prosecutors.