Attorney, Unable to Get Continuance, Forced to Bring Newborn Baby to Atlanta Federal Court

Stacy Ehrisman-Mickle and her newborn baby. Photo Credit: WSB-TV

A Gwinnett County attorney and new mom is angry at a federal judge who first denied her a six-week continuance to bond with her newborn child and then reprimanded her after she had no choice but to bring the baby with her to court.

Stacy Ehrisman-Mickle is an immigration lawyer who took on a case of two young brothers in September, but immediately requested a continuance due to her impending six-week maternity leave. The prosecution had no objections, but Judge J. Dan Pellettier, Sr. refused to grant the motion.

ABC reports that because Ehrisman-Mickle’s husband was out of town, and no daycare center would accept a child so young, she showed up to federal court in downtown Atlanta on Oct. 7 with her four-week-old baby strapped to her chest.

When the baby began to cry, as babies are wont to do, Pellettier reprimanded her for bringing the child to court and allegedly said that the child’s pediatrician would be shocked that the youngster was being exposed to so many germs.

Ehrisman-Mickle has filed a formal complaint against Pellettier, WSB-TV reports, and an investigation into the attorney’s allegations is now underway.