LANSING (AP) — The Michigan Senate is expected to consider a bill giving breast-feeding mothers an automatic exemption from jury duty, something that now depends on individual judges’ decisions.
The state House passed the exemption last month. Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, sponsored the bill.
Under the proposal, a nursing mother with a letter from a doctor, a nurse midwife or a lactation consultant would be automatically exempted from jury duty until her child is weaned.
“It’s good for the mom and good for the system,” Heise said.
Evelyn Moses, 39, said she was nursing in 2009 when she got a summons to serve as a juror in Royal Oak’s 44th District Court.
When she called the courthouse, a clerk told her breastfeeding wasn’t reason enough to be exempt, Moses told the Detroit Free Press. Moses was only excused after showing up in person with a doctor’s note, she said.
“I can’t say everyone would necessarily be excused,” she said. “I consider myself lucky.”
Some legal experts questioned the fairness of and need for an automatic jury exemption for nursing women.
It might make sense to seat a nursing woman in the case of crimes such as child abuse, said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor.
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