The US Supreme Court's complaint in 2005 about inconsistencies in research into adolescents' decision-making capacity did not take into account the different demands placed on adolescents by controlled situations and unstructured situations. Apparent inconsistencies in research into adolescents' capacity in treatment situations and in trial situations may simply be due to methodological differences between the two bodies of research. Apparent inconsistencies in the law regarding presumptions about adolescents' capacity are related to differences in societal objectives across decision-making contexts.