HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

410

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO JURY DUTY.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  Only one in five children in Hawaii receives the absolute minimum of six months exclusive breastfeeding, and fewer than one in three receives any breast milk at twelve months as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes, infectious disease, asthma, allergies, and certain childhood cancers.  Women who breastfeed their children benefit with lower rates of breast and ovarian cancer, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.  Society benefits with lower health insurance costs and higher worker productivity.

     Mother-child separation presents a serious challenge to continuing breastfeeding.  It costs nothing to exempt a breastfeeding woman from jury duty, and this exemption can make a big difference in preserving the breastfeeding relationship.  A woman should never have to worry about how she is going to feed her baby while required to sit in a courtroom, or while sequestered.  Additionally, not every woman has the necessary pump and supplies to pump milk for her baby.  Since direct breastfeeding is considered superior to pumping and bottle feeding by experts, mothers who stay at home with their children would not have a reason to own a pump.

     The purpose of this Act is to meet the health needs of Hawaii's mothers and babies by exempting breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.

     SECTION 2.  Section 612-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§612-6  Exempt when.  A person may claim exemption from service as a juror if the person is:

     (1)  An elected official while the legislature is in session, or a judge of the United States, State, or county;

     (2)  An actively practicing physician or dentist;

     (3)  A member of the armed forces or militia when on active service and deployed out-of-state;

     (4)  An active member of a police or fire department;

     (5)  A person who has served as a juror, either in a court of this State or the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, within one year preceding the time of filling out the juror qualification form;

     (6)  An active member of an emergency medical services agency;

     (7)  A person living more than seventy miles from the court for which jury service is required; [or]

     (8)  A person eighty years of age or older[.]; or

     (9)  A mother who is breastfeeding a child or expressing breast milk; provided that the exemption shall apply for two years from the time the mother began breastfeeding the child, or when the mother is no longer breastfeeding the child, whichever comes first; and provided further that a mother may be exempt under this section for each child that a mother breastfeeds.

     For purposes of this section, "emergency medical services agency" means any government agency, private agency, or company that provides ambulance services, emergency medical services, or disaster medical services."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.



 

Report Title:

Breastfeeding; Jury Duty; Exemption

 

Description:

Exempts breastfeeding mothers from jury duty.  (HB410 HD1)

 

 

 

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