Nursing mother sentenced to night in jail or fine for postponing jury duty.

This story (video here) really surprised me:

A Maryland judge sentenced a breastfeeding mother to a night in jail or a $150 fine, after she asked to postpone her jury duty.

Elizabeth Jett's baby boy Henry was less than 12 weeks old when she was called for jury duty. "I think it’s a case of priorities. Taking care of your children should be your first priority. Jury duty can always come later," Jett said.

Jett asked to postpone and serve during the Summer, when Henry would be older and her mother, a full-time teacher, could take care of him and his five-year-old brother.

The Carroll County judge said Jett was in contempt of court, which Jett thought was unbelievable. "I was just shocked. I couldn’t even put it into words," she said.

Legislation that would allow nursing mothers with children under the age of two to be excused from jury duty was introduced for the second time. When the plan was proposed in 2004, many lawmakers shot it down.

Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the law would cause more people to try to postpone their duties, "If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition." [emphasis added]

Frosh said the law already gives judges broad discretion to excuse residents from jury duty, "So what we want is for judges to use their discretion liberally."

I'd note here that had this mother been working, she would have been guaranteed time off from work under the Family Medical Leave Act, and that she simply asked to postpone her service, not be excused from it.  It's not clear to me whether pumping would have been an option, but even that would have required the agreement of the judge, since juries are kept together and breaks are at the discretion of the judge.  And of course not all babies take bottles, and not all women have success with pumping.

When I served on a jury a few months ago, the judge in the case did use her discretion liberally.  She asked each member of the jury pool if there was any reason why serving on the jury would present a significant hardship.  She cited as examples the need to care for children or elderly relatives, medical procedures, and even stated that since we live in an area with lots of colleges students, she would excuse any student who would miss class.

So, there are judges who understand this particular need of the "human condition," and are happy to accommodate it.  But clearly there are others who don't.  I appreciate the argument that specifically naming conditions can make things complicated.  But there also appear to be judges who don't have an adequate understanding of this issue to use their discretion in a manner most of us would find appropriate.  That's why 12 states (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia) have laws that accommodate nursing mothers called for jury duty.

As for the argument that these laws create opportunities for more people - such as those undergoing chemotherapy or kidney dialysis - to postpone their service, isn't that what we would all want?

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Comments

[Kansas Mom]

I'm so sorry for this mother. I can't imagine having to leave such a little one all day for jury duty, especially if not used to pumping and bottles. (I've pumped at work, too, and can't imagine dealing with that in a courthouse!)

Kansas has a wonderful release from jury duty for nursing moms. I was called recently and just needed to have my pediatrician's office fax a note -- without even going in to see them. I even think my daughter was over a year old at the time. It was so easy!

[mezzaluna]

oh dear, now i'm scared... with both kids now i've been called up for jury duty around the 12 month mark. happened to everyone else in my new mom's group, too... (in massachusetts). we were very suspicious of why we were all suddenly called 12 months after having a baby. it doesn't seem like a great time in someone's life to ask them to serve on a jury... but maybe there are few enough SAHMs whose babies don't take bottles that it's not on anyone's radar?

last time i postponed until an age where my firstborn was able to go about 6 hours without nursing, so i figured we could hack a full day if we had to. and then my number never came up. this time my baby is not as frequent a nurser and much more into solids at the same age, so she'll probably make it... but she'll be really sad :( i planned to tell the judge my situation - that i'm the primary caregiver for a baby who's nursing every 2-4 hours in the day - but being put in jail overnight would be a more difficult separation than jury duty! oh well, i'll bring it up anyway if need be! i'm won't be a very good juror if i'm 8 hours worth engorged and distracted by the discomfort and worrying about my baby!

btw, has anyone made it work with nursing their child at lunch or other breaks in jury duty? i think baby and i would really be ok if she could nurse once in the middle of the day - she'll be 13 months and already at 11 mo. can go 5 hours without nursing if she's eating a lot of solids and is out of the house and distracted from her usual nursing routine.

[physicsmom]

Sheesh! I can't believe what Brian Frosh said! I can't believe he has such a hard time believing that people might need a little wiggle room when they have a life threatening medical condition. Doesn't he realize that a person missing an important medical treatment such as dialysis could have a serious medical complication? How would that affect the jury during a trial? If that's the way people think, us breastfeeding moms have no hope. At least there are more reasonable people around. I don't want to wish anything bad on that guy, but maybe he needs a family member to experience a "malad[y] that afflicts the human condition" to have a bit of a reality check. Would he want his mother to postpone an important medical treatment so that she could serve on a jury?

[Dave]

This country is so soft. You think we should accommodate babies EATING and people RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE? Come on, people! Just tough it out! (I hope you can detect the sarcasm...)

[Maria]

I feel for that mother and baby. There is no reason not to POSTPONE her service, and quite honestly, what attorney or judge wants a distracted person on their jury? Chemo, dialisis, etc all call for a postponement, IMO. Seriously-- they would be and are asking people to put their own health and life on hold to serve on a jury, which is not even close to the intent of jury duty!

This story breaks my heart...

[Gina]

It is so funny that this was today's post, because yesterday was my first day of jury duty, and I got selected to serve on the jury. I did tell the judge that I am an at-home mother and would have to find and pay for childcare and that I was still nursing my daughter (she's 20 months). He told me that I could postpone for up to a year, but I had already postponed from when I was originally called in August. So I went back to jury duty today, but (luckily for me and my daughter) the defendant pleaded guilty first thing this morning. On the bright side, I got a lot of knitting done in the past two days.

[Maureen]

Unbelievable!

Note that breastfeeding is being described/linked to "other maladies that afflict the human condition." Hey, judge who is a mammal, we wouldn't BE here without breastfeeding. Life-sustaining, yes. Has ensured survival of our species for millions of years, yes.

Malady, no.

[Amy]

Wow, this is shocking. I got called for jury duty this fall and simply sent in a form saying that I was breastfeeding (my daughter is now 10 months old) and they canceled their request. I guess I should feel fortunate! I live in PA.

[tanya@motherwearblog]

Seems like there is a part of the story missing. How could anyone be held in contempt just for *requesting* a postponement?

In any case, for those of you who aren't in states where the law accommodates nursing mothers, I'd try getting a doctor's note (like Kansas Mom did) faxed to the courthouse stating that there is a medical reason why service needs to be postponed.

- Tanya

[Ali]

Wow, this is something I never even thought about. I am a SAHM who's baby would not take a bottle. The whole first year I didn't leave her more than 3 hours. She just didn't do well with others until then. I can't imagine how this would have disrupted our family. What if it was a long trial she got picked for? I just can't imagine. I am glad IL protects nursing mothers in this case. I feel badly for this mom!

[noholzbarred]

Is that Frosh guy kidding? He doesn't want to excuse someone on DIALYSIS??? He wants someone to postpone their chemo to serve on a jury? I understand duty to your country, but when someone's life is at stake, isn't there a little room for wiggle?

[Mary]

I got called for jury service here in NZ when my daughter was 12 months old. I wrote a few lines to them asking to be excused because I was the full time caregiver to two preschool children and a school-aged child. I said I was breastfeeding throughout the day. I enclosed a copy of my youngest's birth certificate as evidence. My application to be excused was quickly accepted. And in addition, they excused me from further service until February 2009!

Having said that, the breastfeeding thing was ancillary to me being excused - the key consideration was that I was the primary caregiver to young children.

[Sue]

I came upon this blog today. I was summoned for jury duty (in IL) a couple of weeks ago. I asked to be excused because I breastfeed my youngest. Today I got a card saying my request was denied. I called and was told that the breastfeeding law doesn't apply to single day jurors, but the woman excused me because I'm a SAHM with a 1 year old. Thank goodness!