bowlinger qua bowlinger

Wisconsin continues to have trouble policing posthumous public morality. A recent appeals court ruling there answered whether the current sexual assault statute (Wis. Stat. § 940.225) “criminalizes sexual intercourse with a corpse where the defendant was not involved in the individual’s death and the corpse was already buried before the sexual act.” And, the answer is no.

Additional topics addressed in the opinion: whether corpses can give consent (No), whether “unconsciousness” can be read to include death (Also no), and whether human remains can be the “victim” of a crime (somewhat unclear).

The opinion’s a short read, and worth it.

Last 5 posts by the editor

• BREAKING: WI Roadside Collection of Dead Deer May Cease - December 17th, 2008
• law of corpse and carcass update #2 - August 4th, 2008
• 1L Callback - June 23rd, 2008
• law of corpse and carcass update - June 16th, 2008
• another bright idea - June 2nd, 2008