On December 29, 1988, Sister Denise Nicoleau suffered severe hemorrhaging after giving birth to her son. Her hemoglobin dropped below 5.0, and her physician asked for her consent to transfuse blood. Sister Nicoleau refused. The next morning, the hospital sought to obtain a court order authorizing the hospital staff to administer what they considered to be necessary blood transfusions. Without conducting a hearing or even informing Sister Nicoleau or her husband, the judge authorized the hospital to administer the transfusions.

On Friday, December 30, the hospital staff transfused Sister Nicoleau despite the objections of her husband and other family members who were at her bedside. That evening, several family members and one or two elders were arrested for allegedly forming a human wall around Sister Nicoleau’s bed to prevent the transfusions. On Saturday morning, December 31, the New York City and Long Island news outlets were reporting the arrests.

On Monday morning, I spoke with the presiding justice, Milton Mollen. I described the facts of the case, stressing that the trial judge had signed the transfusion order without a hearing. Justice Mollen asked me to come to his office later that afternoon to discuss the facts and relevant law. My overseer, Philip Brumley, accompanied me to Justice Mollen’s chambers that evening. The judge also invited the hospital’s attorney to join us. Our discussion was heated. At one point, Brother Brumley made a note on his legal pad telling me that I should “tone it down.” In hindsight, that was good counsel because I was getting very worked up in refuting the attorney’s arguments.

After about an hour, Justice Mollen said that the case would be first on the docket the next morning. As we were leaving his chambers, Justice Mollen said that the hospital’s attorney had a “heavy burden tomorrow.” This meant that the attorney would be hard-pressed to defend his position. I felt that Jehovah was reassuring me that our case was strong. I was humbled to think that Jehovah was using us to accomplish his will.

We worked into the night preparing our argument for the next morning. The courthouse is just a few blocks from Brooklyn Bethel, so most of those from our small Legal Office walked there. After the four-justice panel heard our arguments, they canceled the transfusion order. The high court ruled in Sister Nicoleau’s favor and established that the common practice of obtaining an order or a hearing without notice was a violation of fundamental constitutional rights.

New York’s highest court ultimately affirmed Sister Nicoleau’s right to be treated without blood.