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A stay-at-home mom of three is firing back after a judge allegedly “verbally assaulted” her “for mothering [her] children.”
Ina Facebook postshared on Nov. 21 that has since gone viral, Fresno, California-based Christa Pehl Evans recalled an incident the previous day that took place at the Fresno Superior Courthouse, when Judge James Petrucelli would not allow her to be exempt from jury duty to take care of her kids.
“When I asked to be excused because I need to care for my children, these are things Judge James Petrucelli (Dept. 61, Fresno Superior Courthouse) said to me,” wrote Pehl Evans, who is mom to son Harvey, 5, plus daughters Sylvia, 16 months, and Violet, 7.
Pehl Evans continued, ” ‘What do you do when you are sick?’ I replied, ‘I take care of my kids,’ and he shook his head at me with a disgusted expression on his face.”
“And then, obviously directed at me and the other very pregnant mother of a 20 month old: ‘I just don’t understand these people with no childcare,’ ” Pehl Evans alleged, stating that the conversation “went on and on in front of the entire courtroom.” (According to the court transcript,The Sacramento Beereports, Petrucelli’s statement was, “I’m amazed that people don’t have childcare available to them.”)
“There were almost 300 people at the courthouse called to serve jury duty, and Judge James Petrucelli chose to berate two mothers of young children,” she went on. “In contrast the man in the room asking to get off the jury because he needed money from his job to support his family was not questioned. Judge Petrucelli simply nodded his head in agreement with him.”
“I have said that to people before, to make a point about what happens if there’s an emergency,” he continued of his Mack Truck remark, adding, “I do have a tendency to get people’s attention. There’s no two ways about it.”
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“Why wouldn’t somebody call me and have me apologize if they’re offended? It is not my job or thought process to offend anybody. I do this every day,” he said. “We have thousands and thousands and thousands of jurors come through,” he said.
“I mean, I have so many people come up to me away from court and tell me what a wonderful experience it was to be in my courtroom and so on.”
Pehl Evans also grantedThe Sacramento Beewith an interview, opining of Petrucelli, “He had this attitude toward me that I was some dumb mom, which is a broader problem in this country. I have a PhD from Princeton, and being a mother is the hardest job I’ve ever done. I felt like I had to defend myself for mothering my children.”
According to the outlet, Pehl Evans was excused from court that day but has to return in January, where she’ll “have to go through all of this again,” she lamented.
“I am more than happy to serve on the jury when my children are older, but my most important duty to this country at this moment is to raise loving human beings, a job that consumes me all day and many nights,” Pehl Evans continued. “Caring for Sylvia has been more challenging for me than graduate school ever was.”
“We can#metooall we want about sexual assault, but until we respect mothering as a valid and important occupation, we have a major sexist problem. Paid work is not the only work that matters.”
source: people.com
