Have at it: Does Wisconsin need an intoxicated co-sleeping law?

By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — There ought to be a law …

You hear that declaration a lot in a country where there seems to be no end to acts of depravity, man’s inhumanity to man and downright stupidity.

But so often you can’t help but shake your head and wonder: Do we really need a law for this? Sometimes the question is tied to a disbelief in human behavior.

Case in point, Rep. Samantha Kerkman’s bill that targets co-sleeping with infants, otherwise known as bed-sharing, particularly co-sleeping that involves the injury or death of infants by the negligence of an intoxicated guardian.

The Randall Republican’s bill would make it a felony to harm or kill an infant through intoxicated co-sleeping.

Is co-sleeping that ends in death or injury a problem? Yes.

In Milwaukee, there have been at least 28 child suspected deaths related to “unsafe sleep” during the past two years.

Milwaukee legal and city officials, among others, argue there is no need to go beyond the state’s existing child neglect law.

Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf disagrees. He said the language of current law forces prosecutors to prove intent to harm or kill. Most defendants who were drunk or drugged up at the time of a co-sleeping death will tell you it was just a horrible accident, that they did not intend to harm their children. That’s probably true.

But the damage is done, Zapf tells Wisconsin Reporter, and somebody is responsible. Somebody needs to be held accountable.

“The question is, who protects our infants, our most vulnerable?” the district attorney asked.

Who? Kerkman says she will through her bill.

But does Wisconsin need another law to protect children from people who ought to know better? We ask you.

What do you think?

Contact M.D. Kittle at mkittle@watchdog.org

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