Provides an exemption from jury duty for breastfeeding women; allows that such breastfeeding mother's jury duty shall be postponed up to two years after the date on which such service otherwise is to commence.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A5424
SPONSOR: Crespo (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to
providing an exemption from jury duty for breastfeeding women
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Provides exemption from jury duty for women six months pregnant, facing
complications with their pregnancy and women nursing a child.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Paragraph 2 of subdivision of section 517 of the judiciary
law, as added by chapter 86 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as
follows:
Subsection la: provided that if the prospective juror is a breastfeeding
mother and submits with her application a note from a physician indicat-
ing that the prospective juror is a breastfeeding, the commissioner
shall excuse the prospective juror or postpone the time of jury service.
Subsection 2: An application for postponement of jury service shall be
granted hereunder provided: (I) such service has not already been post-
poned or excused, (ii) the application is made at such time and in such
manor as the commissioner of jurors requires, and (iii) the postponement
is to a date certain when the court is in session not more than six
months after the date on which such service otherwise is to commence and
such date is selected by the prospective juror, provided that if the
prospective juror is a breast feeding mother, the postponement date may
be a dated certain up to two years after the date on which such service
otherwise is to commence.
Section 2: This act shall take effect immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Jury duty exerts its demands on all who are called to serve and perhaps
even more on expecting mothers, women facing complications with their
pregnancy and women who are breast feeding their infants. In an effort
to protect the health of pregnant women and their unborn child, it is
imperative that a mechanism is created that allows a physician to
explain why an excuse from jury duty should be accepted and facilitated.
Many women have decided to breast feed their infants as a matter of
promoting better health of their new-born based on the uncontradictable
evidence which shows breast feeding as superior nutrition for the devel-
opment of the infant's brain and immune system.
Jury duty interferes with these efforts at a critical time in the devel-
opment of a child's cognitive and cerebral formation. No form of public
service should override a mother's primary responsibility and care of
their infant child.
This legislation provides expecting mothers and new mothers with the
ability to be excused from jury duty per the written notice by a physi-
cian supporting the reason for excuse. This legislation is a common
sense approach to helping mother and child at a critical time during
pregnancy and infancy.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.6793A of 2015 referred to judiciary.
A06111 Actions: 02/23/2017 referred to judiciary
05/22/2017 amend and recommit to judiciary
05/22/2017 print number 6111a
05/25/2017 amend and recommit to judiciary
05/25/2017 print number 6111b
01/03/2018 referred to judiciary
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5424
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRESPO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARRETT,
BLAKE, BRAUNSTEIN, DAVILA, HEVESI, HYNDMAN, JAFFEE, JEAN-PIERRE,
JOYNER, RAIA, SIMON, SIMOTAS, STECK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to providing an exemption
from jury duty for breastfeeding women
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision (a) of section 517 of the
2 judiciary law, paragraph 1 as amended and paragraph 2 as added by chap-
3 ter 86 of the laws of 1995, are amended to read as follows:
4 (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph two of this subdivision,
5 the commissioner of jurors may, in his or her discretion, on the appli-
6 cation of a prospective juror who has been summoned to attend, excuse
7 such prospective juror from a part or the whole of the time of jury
8 service or may postpone the time of jury service to a later day during
9 the same or any subsequent term of the court, provided that if the
10 prospective juror is a breastfeeding mother and submits with her appli-
11 cation a note from a physician indicating that the prospective juror is
12 breastfeeding, the commissioner shall excuse the prospective juror or
13 postpone the time of jury service. The application shall be presented to
14 the commissioner at such time and in such manner as he or she shall
15 require, except that an application for postponement of the initial date
16 for jury service may be made by telephone.
17 (2) An application for postponement of jury service shall be granted
18 hereunder provided: (i) such service has not already been postponed or
19 excused, (ii) the application is made at such time and in such manner as
20 the commissioner of jurors requires, and (iii) the postponement is to a
21 date certain when the court is in session not more than six months after
22 the date on which such service otherwise is to commence and such date is
23 selected by the prospective juror, provided that if the prospective
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03064-01-9
A. 5424 2
1 juror is a breastfeeding mother, the postponement date may be a date
2 certain up to two years after the date on which such service otherwise
3 is to commence.
4 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.