Could she win in court?

Even if you save a baby from a dangerous situation, you aren't allowed to just run off with it.

If she wanted to protect the baby, she could have called the authorities. Or tried to contact the baby's father, to see if he was aware of how she was being treated.

She would probably get some lenience from the court, because she was taking the baby away from a neglectful upbringing. I think that's what the script was getting at, with the police officer acknowledging that she was basically taking Madison into protective custody. But she'd still be in major trouble.

The court won't see like we see it. There has to be more proof. I think Lu is going to be in big trouble.

If you can't leave the baby with a drunk person you take her to CPS. You don't take matters into your own hands.

Only if the mother decided to forgive her and back her up, but even then I don't know if it would be possible

The police in the end showed sympathy with her though so that sort of gave the impression that she could

In the movie... but in real life she'd be pretty screwed I reckon

Never hug a man with a million bucks worth of hardware up his crack.

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I think she'd probably get some leniency. The mom would probably be grateful because the experience helped her realize that she needs to step up, and the father would probably be happy that someone was actually taking care of the child. She'd probably have a good chance of getting a reduced sentence considering the social worker would probably testify, and because of the circumstances.

At most she'd get second degree kidnapping (and probably theft), which is a mandatory sentence of 5-25 years, and is a felony, but she'd probably get the lower end of that.

If she had a good lawyer, which she probably would because the guy's mom cares about her a lot, then she could maybe get custodial interference in the second degree, which is a misdemeanor, and carries a maximum sentence of 1 year, and/ or 3 years probation. If I were a judge I'd probably go with the high end on that one, just because she could've handled that situation a lot better. Plus she did get that parking ticket, and she did plan on robbing the lady.

Some states have statutory exceptions to kidnapping laws. You might not be guilty of kidnapping if you steal, take, conceal or otherwise harbor a child under 14 if you do so to protect the child from danger of imminent harm, Then again, Tallulah was also robbing the woman of money and jewelry when she took the baby- which makes it a bit difficult to use the child's safety as an excuse.

I don't think she'll get off scott free, but I do think she'll get a light sentence with little to no jail time based on the mother, Lu's past (having a bad mother and being abandoned, and the fact that she's a cute, white girl.