keeps on happening in the US. Are people that cruel? Are they sadistic? Are they scared of a feeding baby? And finally, are they ignorant of the law?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/simone-dos-santos_n_1148455.html

8 other similar cases below the article.

When a baby that age needs food, it needs it right then and there, it can't wait till you go home or something to feed it. And if the the woman is properly covered (as has been in all such scandals), what's the problem? Are stupid security guards scared of seeing a sheet draped over a woman's upper torso?

Seriously, this oppression has to stop.

ibtsadisticmorons.

12/17/2011 6:45:47 AM

She should have known the laws before she decided to have a kid. If she wants to breast feed, stay at home. If she can't afford to do that, don't have a kid.

12/17/2011 8:25:39 AM

I do not mind public breast feeding as long as proper etiquette is followed. My only issue would be if I'm at a 4-star restaurant on a date and at the table in front of me some troll whips outs her tits to feed her baby. As a side note a baby should not be at this time of place to begin with.

12/17/2011 9:26:32 AM

Quote :

"She should have known the laws before she decided to have a kid"

Quote :

"A lawyer herself, dos Santos knew that legally she had rights -- 28 states as well as D.C. exempt breastfeeding from public indecency laws."

12/17/2011 10:24:44 AM

I was just trollin in the first place. Seems like justice properly prevailed here, so why the thread?

12/17/2011 10:35:00 AM

folks shouldn't be harassed like this

12/17/2011 10:53:54 AM

Agreed, but I'd label it less harassment and more ignorance of the laws by the people charged with enforcing them.

12/17/2011 11:18:14 AM

Ignorance is not an excuse for harassment. All it does is enrich lawyers at taxpayer's expense because the local law enforcement can't keep its goons under control.

12/18/2011 8:08:44 AM

The fuck? If the officers are ignorant of the law then they weren't harassing her, they thought they were enforcing the indecent exposure law.

12/18/2011 8:31:01 AM

Officers are obligated to know and understand the laws that they attempt to enforce, and are covered by qualified immunity only beyond what is considered knowledge of a "reasonable person" - obscure, uncommon, or complex statutes or limitations. I would have a hard time believing that this situation falls under any of those categories.

Obviously the language provides much latitude for judgment, but ultimately it requires a court to decide what does and does not fit that language. I am simply of the mind that it is a perfectly reasonable expectation that officers would have used better judgment and more due diligence when it comes to simple nonviolent infractions, particularly in regard to something as commonplace as breastfeeding.

Even if they weren't simply trying to be dicks to begin with in this particular instance, it would have taken a mere 5 minute conversation to have someone more knowledgeable to validate their appraisal of the situation. If they were properly educated on what is and is not protected under indecent exposure statutes, this would either simply not have happened, or it would have been an intentional act of harassment. They clearly were not well-informed and acted out of ignorance, and the reaction is no less a case of harassment on their part, however unintentional it may have been.

12/18/2011 9:54:58 AM

Quote :

"particularly in regard to something as commonplace as breastfeeding"

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a woman breastfeeding in public. I don't think it is commonplace at all.

12/18/2011 10:28:54 AM

in europe gypsy women just whip that torpedo tit right out whenever they want. a fuckin bank line, grocery line, standing in a plaza. they don't give 1 single fuck. they'd probably squirt it on you if you said something like "there's a chair with privacy over in the corner ma'am"


hell i'm curious if anybody saw the mexican lady at crabtree feeding her kids in the middle of hallway on a bench yesterday...

it was funny seeing all the faces from everybody.

[Edited on December 18, 2011 at 11:09 AM. Reason : ,]

12/18/2011 11:06:12 AM

Quote :

"The fuck? If the officers are ignorant of the law then they weren't harassing her, they thought they were enforcing the indecent exposure law"

If you're ratted for something you didn't know was a crime then you aren't let off the hook for your ignorance.

If a cop harasses someone for something that isn't crime it shouldn't just be dismissed. This one isn't a big deal (no one got tazed or pepper sprayed, which seems to be the current police default when someone disagrees with them) and seems like it'd be solved with reprimands and training.

[Edited on December 18, 2011 at 12:02 PM. Reason : .]

12/18/2011 12:01:26 PM

First world problems

12/18/2011 1:45:22 PM

Quote :

"If you're ratted for something you didn't know was a crime then you aren't let off the hook for your ignorance."

Nothing will happen to the cops. Didn't you read that they are "investigating" it. Police code for "we're not doing shit".

The OP perspective is right both morally and legally. The fact that this happened to a lawyer is the only reason it even stands the slightest snowball's chance in hell of being addressed. It probably won't be. Even if, beyond all typical expectations this manages to go to court and she wins, it'll just be one more lawyer getting one more settlement.

Nothing will be changed. They will doubtfully bother with any extra education for the very cops that perpetuated this, much less the precinct, much less a national change. We've accepted this level of bullshit and inaction from our public servants. We will continue to accept it.

12/18/2011 6:42:45 PM

Quote :

"I called my law firm to ask for pro bono assistance and an associate who could immediately research whether there was a law regarding breastfeeding in public."

I find it kind of funny that this lady didn't know the law either, she just went straight to assuming she was being unjustly oppressed.

12/18/2011 11:03:25 PM

^ Why thank you for posting in this thread without reading the article. rufus and Chance are sure to become best of friends.

12/18/2011 11:16:49 PM

huh-huh tits huh-huh

12/19/2011 8:29:42 AM

People walk around buck naked in a gym, but consider a woman breastfeeding a baby indecent...wtf

12/19/2011 9:58:55 AM

Quote :

"Simone dos Santos was breastfeeding her four-month-old in the hallway of a D.C. government building when two female security guards told her to stop because it was indecent, ABC7 reports. "

Quote :

"It is shocking that this human rights violation keeps on happening in the US. Are people that cruel? Are they sadistic? Are they scared of a feeding baby? And finally, are they ignorant of the law?"

They told her to stop??? Oh the humanity!!!!

I'm not offended by breastfeeding in public as long as it is done in a discreet manner, nor do I think it should be illegal, but a couple of security guards mistakenly telling someone they can't breastfeed in public is not a "shocking human rights violation" in any way. It's not even news worthy IMO.

[Edited on December 19, 2011 at 10:28 AM. Reason : s]

12/19/2011 10:27:34 AM

Quote :

"...it'll just be one more lawyer getting one more settlement."

Quote :

"They will doubtfully bother with any extra education for the very cops that perpetuated this..."

These two statements don't make sense. If the lady gets a settlement and it comes out of a group's budget, you can bet that if the guards are employed by the government office, they'll have to sit in at some kind of class/seminar about nursing and "family" laws. If they are a contractor, the guards will probably just be fired because the bill for the settlement will probably go to the contractor.

If it costs a lot of money, not even a government office is going to go "oh well, bo biggy".

----

Quote :

"Dos Santos was waiting for a traffic hearing and stepped out into the hallway to breastfeed when the guards approached her..."

*ring ring ring*
"Hey Sarah, I..... no, no I can't go to lunch with you; I have to go to traffic court today........ no, thanks for asking, but I don't need a sitter. I'll just take my 4 month old to sit in the court room with me. Judges love it when you bring in your infant to your traffic hearing, right?"

12/19/2011 10:36:23 AM

Quote :

"^ Why thank you for posting in this thread without reading the article. rufus and Chance are sure to become best of friends."

I did read the article and it makes it clear that the lady didn't know the law, she was just assuming it was ok and got offended when a couple of rent-a-cops turned out not to know it either and asked her to stop.

12/19/2011 10:44:59 AM