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Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Courts - "Jury Exemptions for Nursing Mothers"
Amanda Bronstad of The National Law Journal reports today in a story that begins:
Amid a wide blanket of legal protections for women who breastfeed in public, an increasing number of states have passed laws that exempt nursing mothers from jury service, with more states introducing bills on the issue.Eleven states and Puerto Rico have passed laws that exempt nursing mothers from jury service, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Most of the statutes became effective in the past five years, including those in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Virginia. Some laws require nursing mothers to have a note from a doctor; others permit the exemption up to a certain age of the child.
In the past two years, more than a dozen states have introduced bills, most of which failed, relating to jury service exemptions for nursing mothers, according to the NCSL. This year's failed bills include those in Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota and New Mexico. Many plan to reintroduce the legislation next year.
The legislation is being driven by constituent complaints at courthouses and often has been enveloped in other laws protecting the rights of nursing mothers in public and at their workplaces.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 2, 2008 02:28 PM
Posted to Courts in general