Matthew Santoni, The Examiner
2008-04-07 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

A Carroll County judge has offered to drop the fines and possible jail time for an Eldersburg woman who skipped jury duty because she had been breast-feeding her infant son.

Elizabeth Jett had been held in contempt of court for failing to show up for jury duty in October, leading to the possibility that she’d have to serve time in jail and pay a $150 fine.

But those charges were effectively dropped last week when Judge Barry Hughes told her all she would have to do was write a letter to the court explaining that she couldn’t pay, Jett told an Examiner reporter in a phone message last week. She could not be reached for further comment.

Jett, a stay-at-home mother of two, said she had written a letter asking for a postponement of her jury duty, but was denied. Hughes called her to the courthouse in January and held her in contempt of court.

Jett’s struggle spurred Sen. Nancy Jacobs to sponsor legislation this year that would specifically exempt breast-feeding mothers of children under 2 years old from jury duty. The bill did not pass, but Jacobs said her lobbying may have shown that there may not be laws exempting mothers, but there had been cases going back more than a decade where mothers were exempted.

“What this woman told me had happened to her was just absurd,” said Jacobs, R-District 34. “I thought, we’ve sent letters, we’ve tried to take care of this in the past, so why is this still happening?”

The bill likely failed because adding a specific excuse for breast-feeding mothers would open a “Pandora’s box” of legislation seeking other exemptions, according to staffers in Jacobs’ office. But the senator said the important part was that the message was sent.

“We’re hoping the situation has been fixed ... if it hasn’t been, then I’ll be back,” Jacobs said.

Examiner Staff Writer Mike Silvestri contributed to this report.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com