33-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to Baby Boy in Brooklyn Criminal Courtroom
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 16
33-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth to Baby Boy in Brooklyn Criminal Courtroom
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 16
Minutes before midnight Friday, Samantha Randazzo delivered a baby boy inside a Brooklyn criminal courtroom after going into labor while waiting to appear on low-level charges.
Around 11:30 p.m., the 33-year-old—nine months pregnant—slouched on a bench and her water broke, prompting court officers to help her as a judge and others cleared the room.
Her lawyer, Wynton Sharpe, said the birth turned an ordinary night in criminal court into a makeshift labor-and-delivery scene, calling it both joyful and sad given the circumstances.
No one contacted by The New York Times on Saturday could recall another case of a child being born in a New York City courtroom, though babies have recently been delivered on a Bronx sidewalk and a Manhattan subway train.
What does a courtroom birth reveal about the justice system's treatment of pregnant individuals?
Are some US courts prioritizing a fetus's welfare over a mother's bodily autonomy?