Monday, June 14, 2010

Update and Attorney Letter

Just to update everyone on what has been happening; last week was Lily’s last week of receiving speech therapy at Bellamy Elementary school. Although we won’t be going to Bellamy again, we are still pursuing their violation of the Florida breastfeeding law for the benefit of future mothers wanting to breastfeed on school property.

My husband has been in contact with Miguel De Grandy, the wonderful attorney who originally authored the Florida law. Mr. De Grandy has written a letter on our behalf in response to the school board. Below is a copy of the letter he sent:


Re: Hillsborough County School District’s Violation of Laws of Florida Chapter 93-4

Dear (Superintendant or Members of School Board),

I respectfully write this letter to you on behalf of Ms. Melissa Taylor, both as an attorney, and as the author of Florida Law 93-4; an act relating to breastfeeding. It is my understanding that Ms. Taylor’s unqualified statutory right to breastfeed her child on school district property was and continues to be unlawfully infringed upon by school board officials. To date, I have had the opportunity to review several documents and media articles regarding this issue, including opinions emitted by the School Board’s Attorney. Frankly, I fail to understand how such a clear pronouncement of law can be misunderstood either by your legal counsel, or by your personnel. Perhaps it may be helpful to provide you with specific background regarding the creation of this law for you to better understand that Ms. Taylor indeed has the right to breastfeed anywhere on school district property on which she or any other parent has a right to be.

In 1993, I had the privilege to serve the citizens of the State of Florida as a Member of the Florida House of Representatives. One day, while reading the newspaper, I came across a column piece written by Michelle Genz, a reporter for the Miami Herald. In this column piece, she explained how she was accosted by a security guard at a mall, while breastfeeding her child. This security officer informed her that it was not appropriate to nurture her child in that manner in public view, and even threatened to arrest her for indecent exposure. Ms. Genz ended her article by stating that if Florida legislators really cared about family values, they would protect this most basic right of a mother to nurture and provide sustenance for her child.

Ms. Genz’ experience was what prompted me to draft Public Law 93-4, in order to make sure that no mother ever had to suffer the humiliation and indignities that she was put through.

a) Public Law 93-4 makes clear that breastfeeding in public is not unlawful or inappropriate.

I approached the drafting of the bill from two perspectives. First, I requested my bill drafting staff to review every Florida statute that could conceivably be utilized (rationally or not) to even threaten a woman nurturing her child with any sort of punitive consequence. Public Law 93-4 therefore includes a listing of Statutes dealing with unnatural and lascivious conduct, exposure of sexual organs, indecent assault or act upon or in the presence of a child, etc., and each said Statute was amended to include a simple sentence which states “a mother’s breastfeeding of her baby does not under any circumstances violate this Section”. Of course, the purpose of this exhaustive re-statement of all statutes that could possibly be utilized to threaten or harass a breastfeeding mother, was clearly intended to insure that there would be no question that a mother’s nurturing of her child, in this most natural way, could not be interpreted to be unlawful, immoral or inappropriate.

b) Public Law 93-4 as codified in Florida Statute 383.015 creates an unconditional right to breastfeed in public.

The other part of Public Law 93-4 is pro-active. It includes several “Whereas” clauses which constituted the findings of the legislature in regard to breastfeeding. These “Whereas” clauses detail the fact that the Surgeon General of the United States recommends that women breastfeed their children. It discusses the health benefits of breast milk over packaged formula and the encouragement of breastfeeding by organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The “Whereas” clauses also discuss the sad fact that statistics continue to reveal a declining percentage of mothers who are choosing to breastfeed, in part because they are intimidated or “made to feel incriminated or socially ostracized for breastfeeding [their] baby”. Following these findings is a newly created section of the Florida Statutes, which was specifically enacted with the intent and purpose of preventing precisely the type of conduct employed against Ms. Taylor, which is not only ignorant, but has the effect of making Ms. Taylor feel “socially ostracized” for nurturing her child in public. Florida Statutes Section 383.015 states as follows:

The breastfeeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nurture which must be encouraged in the interest of maternal and child health and family values. A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother’s breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breastfeeding. (emphasis added)

With all due respect, how this clear, unconditional and unequivocal right that Ms. Taylor enjoys under Florida Statutes to breastfeed her child on School Board property can be misinterpreted or ignored is mind-boggling.

c) The process of legislative consideration and adoption of Public Law 93-4.

As you know, our Legislature is quite diverse. The Legislature I was privileged to serve in was comprised of individuals of different races, gender, ethnicity and political party. We had representation from conservatives, liberals, agricultural and rural interests, urban interests, etc. Yet all these diverse interests converged to support House Bill 231 which ultimately became Public Law 93-4.

Certainly, it cannot be said that legislators were not apprised of the intent, purpose and effect of this law. Indeed, during the Bill’s consideration in committee, there were several women in the audience breastfeeding their children in the presence of legislators as they considered the Bill. Among them was Rhea Mackinnon, the late Governor Lawton Chiles’ daughter, who was dutifully breastfeeding her son Mack.

The Bill was adopted by the Florida House of Representatives on February 18, 1993 by a vote of 107 yeas and 8 nays. It was adopted on March 4, 1993 by the Florida Senate with a similar overwhelming margin. It was the fourth Bill to be signed into law by the late Governor Chiles on March 9, 1993 in a much publicized ceremonial signing at the courtyard of the Capitol, as his daughter Rhea stood by his side holding the Governor’s grandchild.

d) The frivolous arguments utilized by school personnel to infringe on Ms. Taylor’s rights under Florida Statute 383.015 are contrary to law, public policy and common sense.

In reviewing documents and media regarding this issue, I was frustrated to see that the same ludicrous and unsupportable arguments used against Ms. Genz, were now being employed against Ms. Taylor. For example, one of the arguments that I have reviewed states basically that Ms. Taylor’s act of breastfeeding her child was somehow disruptive to other children on school property, “disruptive to the educational process” or could somehow harm the children exposed to this activity. This argument is completely devoid of any merit. Currently, under State law, Ms. Taylor can breastfeed at Disney World; she can breastfeed while quietly sitting at a bench in a public park where children play, or indeed, at a bus bench on a sidewalk adjacent to any school, in clear view of schoolchildren. Since the law allows her –any indeed encourages her—to breastfeed in all these places where children congregate, how can anyone conclude that this conduct can somehow adversely impact children within school property?

The frivolous arguments made regarding the rights of a Principal or Superintendant to regulate conduct in a school are equally unconvincing. It has been argued that the right to breastfeed “in any location public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be”, as provided in Florida Statute 383.015, does not undermine a school officials right and authority to determine who to grant or withhold authorization to be on public property. This is true. But the reason the breastfeeding law does not address this point is because , at the time of enactment of the law, there already was a legion of case law grounded on constitutional concepts such as Equal Protection and Due process. These cases stand for the proposition that regardless of the level of discretion that a public official may have to regulate access to a public place, such public official does not have a right to limit access to any individual on public property for an unlawful purpose or with an unlawful effect.

It has also been argued that despite the law’s clear and unequivocal language, “if one were to read the statute as giving an unrestricted right to breastfeed, it would mean that a person in his or her own house could not ask a guest to perform the act in privacy”. This argument is frankly absurd. First, when determining the intent of a particular provision of law, one usually looks to the debate and public pronouncements made during the bill’s consideration. If your legal counsel would have conducted such analysis, he would have found that the issue before the legislature involved the right of a woman to breastfeed in public, not in someone else’s home. Moreover, a public official’s right to grant or deny access to public property is qualitatively different, both in law and in fact, to the right of an individual to grant or deny access to his or her home. Therefore, for example, if you are a racist, the Constitution allows you the right to discriminate against persons of another race or ethnicity in denying them access to your home. However, that same Constitution prohibits a public official from denying access to anyone onto public property based on race, ethnicity, gender and a myriad other characteristics. In this context, as it regards to public property, it is the reason for which access or authorization is determined that guides the analysis.

Because Ms. Taylor’s conduct is totally lawful, and indeed encouraged by law, two things are undeniable: first, that Ms. Taylor has a right to be where any other law abiding parent is authorized to be on school property. Second, if parents are authorized to be at a certain location within school property, then Ms. Taylor has an unqualified right to breastfeed at that location and her access to that location on school property cannot be restricted because she engages in such lawful and protected activity on school property.

The references to federal law that I have reviewed are also misguided. Whether or not federal courts have held that the right to breastfeed in public may be qualified or restricted is irrelevant, because Ms. Taylor’s unqualified right to breastfeed in public in the state of Florida flows from a Florida statute, not a federal constitutional or statutory provision. It is elementary and axiomatic that a state may grant greater protection to its citizens than those afforded by federal law or the federal constitution. The federal law analysis is only relevant to determine whether Ms. Taylor is being denied access to a public facility in a manner which violates her rights to Equal Protection of the law, or some other constitutional or federal statutory right she may have, which is separate and distinct from her rights under Florida statutes.

Simply stated, under the clear language of Florida law, Ms. Taylor has a right to breastfeed her child anywhere she is otherwise authorized to be. That means that if any parent is authorized to be at a given location on school property, then Ms. Taylor has a right to breastfeed at that location. To conclude otherwise eviscerates the clear intent, spirit, and letter of the law.

e) School personnel should use the act of breastfeeding as an opportunity to teach not as an opportunity to ostracize.

I respectfully submit that there are many things that school officials should take appropriate measures to insure that school children are not exposed to. These include drugs, weapons, as well as physical and mental abuse. But to classify the act of breastfeeding – the most natural act of nurture and sustenance – with these types of activities that children should not be exposed to, borders on the perverse.

Surely, young children may find such conduct curious, and even giggle or seem somewhat giddy or perplexed upon witnessing the act of breastfeeding. Sadly, this is because mothers in our country have been so discouraged from engaging in this most natural activity, that it is unusual for a child to be exposed to it. But I respectfully submit that instead of punishing the mother for the simple act of nurturing her child, any teacher or school official in proximity of those inquisitive children could use this as an opportunity to teach.

As we all know, children learn much from what they glean from adult reactions and conduct. If children -- and particularly little girls -- see that women are punished or ostracized for breastfeeding, the likelihood that they will engage in or promote breastfeeding when they become adults diminishes geometrically. Therefore instead of punishing or ostracizing the mother for breastfeeding her child, maybe Hillsborough school personnel should be teaching the children about the benefits of breastfeeding, and letting them know that what they may witness when they see Ms. Taylor nurture her child, is natural, normal, and healthy. Maybe then, we could slow the sad percentage decline of breastfeeding in our society.

In closing, it is my sincere hope that the School Board and school officials will reconsider their misguided and unlawful responses to Ms. Taylor’s act of nurturing her child, thereby obviating the need for Ms. Taylor to take legal action to enforce her unqualified right to breastfeed her child on any School Board property where she is otherwise authorized to be.

Respectfully submitted,



Miguel De Grandy

32 comments:

  1. Bravo!!! That is the most amazing letter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. All I can say is WOW!!!

    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow - how wonderful that you got the author of the law to write on your behalf. Very good letter!

    ReplyDelete
  4. How can anyone argue with that? What a powerfully written response!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG that is soooooooooo awesome. i cant wait to hear the response!

    ReplyDelete
  6. His letter makes me proud once again to live in Florida.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I loved every word of that letter! What an amazing guy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. YAYYY!!! You go, Sir!!! Totally awesome explanations!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great letter. Hopefully it will push them in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very well and plainly said. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  11. If only English Law was so explicit! This is brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  12. How absolutely amazing. Looking forward to the response.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love the way he interchanges the word nurturing with breastfeeding...so true, and such a positive way to reframe the whole thing. This was a breath of fresh air!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just wanted to thank you for doing this. For all the moms and nursing children, and future moms out there. :) One small step at a time, we will stomp out the idiots!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for not neglecting to pursue this. So many believe that working for justice is too much bother, when really the trouble occurs when justice is not prioritized.

    ReplyDelete
  16. OMG!!! that's what I call laying the law. This is my rewards for encouraging women to breastfeed. Way to go!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you for pursuing this further. I found out about this after our home page (TBO.com) on our computer had the article. I was very upset at the reaction of the staff members and the various quotes, one of which was from of one of my daughter's former teachers. We have children who attend bellamy, and I think of the times I have gone to pick them up early for appointments or what not...if they would have had some horrible reaction to me nursing my 18 month old and what I would have done.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am happy that you have the chance for the law author to write the board in your favor. I wish more and more would stand up for the right to breastfeed.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Amazing letter! I want to tape this up on my fridge!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yes, what an eloquent letter! Thank you so much Mr. De Grandy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm glad he brought up the idea of using it as a teachable moment. There are segments of the population that have such a long way to go in seeing this as positive and natural in any setting. And the child is a great place to start, with their innate openness and curiosity. One of the most moving and beautiful things I have ever seen was a baby elephant nursing its mother. We happened upon it at the zoo in Washington,DC. The mother and baby were both standing, swaying slightly, the baby's head upturned to it's mother's underside. I felt a trance-like peacefulness just watching them from afar. The baby elephant shape was entirely adorable, like in all the children's books! Appreciation of and curiosity about such things is entirely encouraged at the zoo. There's got to be an education/marketing idea in there somewhere!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Amazing!!!!
    I think I 'll tape it to my fridge too.
    Thank you Mr. De Grandy

    ReplyDelete
  23. Awesome!!! I was so happy to read this letter!

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a great letter! I hope I remember some of the statements in it if I ever hear/see someone being ostracized for breastfeeding in public. I'm outside Orlando. Thankfully I never had to defend my right to breastfeed in public, and did wherever my children were hungry. So glad you have taken a stand! You've done so in a very respectable way! If you get a chance, check out Primetime: What Would You Do? A few weeks ago there was an episode about breastfeeding in public (based on a real situation) in NY. It's laughable that their law allows women to walk topless in public, but a woman breastfeeding is taboo (although, their law is similar to ours regarding breastfeeding).

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thanks for standing up and getting a "fix" for this unbelievable ignorance underway!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Jennifer@ Family MusingsJune 16, 2010 at 1:45 PM

    This made my day! I am so glad you are not letting this go.

    Thank you for moms all over FL!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I'm all for mother's rights, but the law says, “a mother’s breastfeeding of her BABY does not under any circumstances violate this Section” If I remember correctly, this was not a baby but an older child. I would not mind my children observing a woman breastfeeding a BABY, but I would object to my children observing a woman breastfeeding a preschooler.

    ReplyDelete
  28. As a mother who breastfed four children during the 70's and 80's, I am appalled at the ignorance of our public institutions and the board members who choose to tell others what is inappropriate. This mother was well within her rights to prove nourishment to her child. Thank you for standing up for your rights and the rights of all mothers who choose to breastfeed their children. It is great that the author of the law is standing behind you on this issue.

    ReplyDelete
  29. @ Andi-B:
    The WHO recomends mothers breastfeed for AT LEAST two years. The child in question is not an older preschooler, but a two year old. As a nursing mother of a two year old, I believe very strongly that a young toddler very much falls under the scope of the law.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thank you for standing up for your right to breastfeed! I learned a lot about law reading that letter from the lawyer. Keep us posted.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Sad that we still are fighting this fight. I loved the teachable moment. As a mother of 5 from the ages of 22mo. to 15 those happen every day. Just the other day we were at a local water park and a mamma was nursing her little one while riding on the lazy river. My 15 year old son and 12 year old daughter leaned over to me and at the same time said oh, mom that is so sweet. We all smiled at this lovely young lady.

    At a young age they can all be taught what breasts were designed to do! Let's support each other.

    ReplyDelete