It’s a challenge countless breastfeeding moms face, and it’s why Alabama’s new policy, which excuses nursing mothers from jury duty, is so significant. This ruling not only alleviates a huge burden for breastfeeding moms but also represents progress in normalizing the realities of women’s lives within our legal and societal systems.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Breastfeeding women in Alabama will be excused from jury duty, the state’s highest court ordered unanimously on Friday, in response to public outcry from a mother who said that she was threatened with child protective services for bringing her nursing infant into court.

Alabama mothers react to supreme court ruling excusing breastfeeding mothers from jury duty

A mother shouldn’t be relying on a subjective, sympathetic judge to determine whether she can feed her baby or not,” Rep. Susan DuBose said.

Kandace Brown is an Alabama mother of four with an exclusively breastfed infant. When she received a jury summons in December 2024, she tried to postpone her civic duty but allegedly received pushback from Jefferson County courts.

Only days after a mom was threatened with DHR for bringing her infant to the Jefferson County Courthouse, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an administrative order declaring a nursing mother should be excused from jury duty.