I understand that the case we have been talking about is a mom who has
been subpoenaed as a witness.  But just as an example of how this issue
works in the States, the issue of whether one can be excused from jury
duty if breastfeeding has been controversial here.  The New Jersey
statute, fairly recently passed, modified some criminal statutes so that
breastfeeding was explicitly omitted from public indecency (I am winging
this from memory but I think I am getting this close enough).  They also
explicitly exempted women from jury duty if they were nursing (they may
have had an age cut off, I can't recall).  The Pennsylvania version of
this statute died in committee and was never reintroduced.  One sticking
point was exemption from jury duty while breastfeeding.  There is
currently no law one way or the other in Pennsylvania concerning
breastfeeding babies and jury duty.  I have sent back jury duty notices
with a doctor's note saying I was breastfeeding and never heard from the
court.  My county, however, has forced other women to come to court and
when they protest, they are told to put their babies in the court
supplied day care.  Philadelphia is unlikely to push that (particularly
since there is wonderful pro-breastfeeding ordinance in Philadelphia -
thank you Kay Hoover and others) bec. they don't have the
accommodation.  My suburban county built the day care center for just
such objections.  While I continue to get away with jury duly avoidance
(I have after all been breastfeeding continuously for 7.5 years), women
I have advised in custody and divorce cases have been forced to put
their already traumatized infants into the day care center if they want
to proceed with their divorces, custody battles, or protection from
abuse hearings.

A footnote: way back when my first son was 3 months old and I lived
under the delusion I could do it all, I had a sitter fail to appear and
was due in court.  It was a quick hearing and most of the work would be
done in the hallway (remember "in the halls of justice, the justice is
in the halls" - Lenny Bruce).  I brought Luca in his carriage (I
actually owned a carriage =-o ) and wheeled him into the courtroom.  He
slept through the whole thing.  The judge didn't say a word but smiled
(the fact that the judge was a tiny old Italian man and I introduced my
son whose name is Luca Antonio Cipolla).

And then there is the judge who scheduled an afternoon hearing during a
morning hearing, invited me to bring my son when I told him I had not
arranged child care for this last minute rescheduling, and then gave me
the key to his chambers so I could nurse Luca in privacy during breaks.
Philadelphia Dependency Court.  Wonders never cease.

Jake
--
Jake Marcus Cipolla: LLL Leader; IBCLC2B; freelance writer and editor;
work-at-home mom to Luca (7/94), Nicholas (5/97), & Aidan (3/00).
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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