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Jury Duty Exemption for Breastfeeding Act of 2026
To exempt breastfeeding individuals from jury duty, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill exempts breastfeeding individuals from jury duty in federal courts and District of Columbia courts. The bill allows individuals who are breastfeeding and are summoned for jury service to request excusal from the court. In federal courts, the excusal is to be granted by the court or by the clerk under court supervision if the court's jury selection plan authorizes such excusals. In District of Columbia courts, breastfeeding individuals may request to be excluded from jury duty. The exemption applies upon the individual's request rather than being automatic.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (3)
- Mar 16, 2026 Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Mar 16, 2026 Introduced in House
- Mar 16, 2026 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E217)
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 16, 2026
Ms. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To exempt breastfeeding individuals from jury duty, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Jury Duty Exemption for Breastfeeding Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. JURY DUTY EXEMPTION FOR BREASTFEEDING INDIVIDUALS.
(a) Courts of the United States.—Section 1866 of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (c), by inserting after “Except as provided” the following: “in subsection (h) of this section,”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(h) An individual who is breastfeeding summoned for jury service shall be excused by the court, or by the clerk under supervision of the court if the court’s jury selection plan so authorizes, upon the individual’s request.”.
(b) Courts of the District of Columbia.—Section 11-1908(b), District of Columbia Official Code, is amended—
(1) by striking “or (4)” and inserting “(4)”; and
(2) by striking the period at the end of the first sentence and inserting the following: “; or (5) excluded by the Court upon the request of the individual if the individual is breastfeeding.”. <all>
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