North Carolina Mom Claims Judge Threatened to Take Her 3-Month-Old Baby after She Nursed in Court

Danielle Bell from North Carolina decried a judge’s order to kick her out of the courtroom for breastfeeding her baby.

Bell, from Clayton, alleged that the judge in Johnston County court even threated her he would put her 3-month-old baby in the custody of Child Protective Services, as reported by WRAL.

“I felt discriminated against,” she said. “This is the way she survives – by breastfeeding – because she refuses a bottle.”

Bell went to the court from some traffic tickets. She was breastfeeding her baby daughter Penelope in the back of the courtroom while waiting for her traffic court case to be called.

She was shocked when a deputy told her to leave, saying that no children under 12 were allowed in the courtroom. She knew that state and federal laws permit women to breastfeed in public facilities. She also had her baby covered up by a sling while breastfeeding her inside the court.

JUDGE'S SHOCKING WARNING

Bell said she had no choice but to leave her baby with her husband in the hallway.

As she faced District Court Judge Resson Faircloth for her case, the judge told her never to bring her baby to the court again.

“I definitely have fear of going back to the courthouse. I am worried about the consequences that will happen."

Bell was surprised. “If I leave her home, she's unable to eat,” Bell said she told the judge.

“He then replied to me that was not his problem and that, if I had any other excuse, he was going to take her that day and have me put in contempt,” she added.

The judge, according to Bell, threatened to put the baby in the custody of Child Protective Services. Bell left the courtroom in tears.

TRAUMATIZED MOTHER

“I definitely have fear of going back to the courthouse. I am worried about the consequences that will happen,” she said.

Faircloth and Johnston County Chief District Court Judge Jackie Lee both declined to comment on the allegations.

Idaho and Utah recently legalized breastfeeding in public, which means that breastfeeding in public is entirely legal across the United States.

These two states didn't have laws in place to defend nursing mothers who need to breastfeed in public for years, as reported by PEOPLE.