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.

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

Part of the order read, ‘A nursing mother of an infant child clearly qualifies for the excuse from jury service." It goes on to say “other competent evidence” from a prospective juror seeking to be excused must be submitted telephone, electronic mail, or writing in advance of the prospective juror’s summoned date."

In a Jan. 14 follow-up Facebook post, Brown shared that state auditor and former legislator Andrew Sorrell has reached out to her about working to get bill HB369 — a bill designed to help nursing Alabama mothers receive exemption from jury duty — passed in the state legislature.