#parent | #kids | #babysister | #nanny | Maryland Court Throws out Mom’s Co-Sleeping Conviction

Fentiman, who has taught criminal and health law at Pace University’s law school, explained to the newspaper that during her research she found that judges, jurors, and prosecutors often hold women to a different standard than men.

“People expect women to be more careful, and the ‘reasonable mother’ ends up being pretty close to Mother Teresa,” she said.

The judges who recently ruled in Morrison’s case did not feel that co-sleeping with an infant is inherently dangerous but noted that it was Morrison’s impairment that put her child at risk for being suffocated.

Haley Licha, an assistant public defender, told the court last week that the court majority was concerned about setting the precedent that parents should be prosecuted for accidental injuries to their children.

“When an accident takes the life of a child in their parents’ care, do we need to punish that parent, or is there a better way to handle it?” Licha asked before noting that even today Morrison still feels regret for her actions.

She “is going to be blaming herself for this forever,” Licha said, “but that doesn’t make it a crime.”