Always nice to see a mother pull off something like this:
Breastfeeding mothers in Alabama will receive better legal protections after a contentious courtroom incident led to a dramatic ruling.
Kandace Brown, 40, a nursing mother-of-five, arrived in Jefferson County Courthouse on January 13 to serve her jury duty summons with her three-month-old daughter, Parker, in tow.
Brown said she was met with hostility from judges and other courtroom employees after she told them her newborn had to stay with her to be breastfed.
Incredibly, the judges were unwilling to provide Brown with basic accommodations any new mom should expect, instead telling her she would need to "make accommodations" for her newborn.
They even threatened to involve the state Department of Human Resource in the issue! And yes, just to emphasize, this is a little baby that absolutely needs her mother:
The court eventually released her from jury duty but sternly told her she would be required to come back and would not be able to bring her baby with her. Appropriately incensed, Brown wrote about her experience on Facebook, which caught the eye of high-ranking state officials:
Not long after, the Alabama Supreme Court got involved, and only four days later it issued an administrative order excusing breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.
In its ruling, the justices said that "a nursing mother of an infant child clearly qualifies for the excuse from jury service enunciated [in the state code]."
A state legislative committee is considering a law that would make that rule part of the state code. Brown, meanwhile, is working to help that law pass. She put it bluntly:
'No one should have to be afraid to go to jury duty and worried you can't be excused just so you can nourish your child.'
Great job, mama.
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