Family court in Wisconsin considers alcohol monitoring.

• Author: Zemlicka, Jack

Byline: Jack Zemlicka

It's a novel idea, but one that makes sense to some family law attorneys who practice in Waukesha County.

Circuit Court Judge Kathryn W. Foster is proposing a plan to incorporate an alcohol monitoring system, traditionally used in criminal courts, into divorce and child custody cases.

Foster said it is sometimes difficult in contested family cases, absent a drunken driving conviction, to get an accurate picture of whether one of the parties has an alcohol problem.

There's so much 'he said, she said' in family law matters that a neutral source that can either give assurances or document what's going on can only be helpful, said Elizabeth F. Bagley, of Stack, Fahl & Bagley LLP in Brookfield.

Bagley, who practices in Waukesha and Milwaukee, is unaware of any other courts that use alcohol monitoring in family court.

The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) bracelet would provide objective evidence to support or discredit an allegation of alcohol abuse, Foster said.

The devices detect how much alcohol a person consumes and when. The information can then be downloaded and reviewed to determine if there is a violation.

The SCRAM bracelet is primarily used in drunken driving cases. But the proposal would allow to the system to be used as a tool to determine if treatment should be recommended or if a child's safety is at risk.

It's not meant to be used in a punitive fashion, Foster said. [But] it would be helpful to determine if sanctions might be needed or a suspension of child placement.

The bracelets could also cut down on the number of cases that are litigated, if one side is able to provide evidence that the other party is abusing alcohol.

That, in turn, could make cases less costly.

When one party alleges the other party has a problem, particularly in cases involving children, and you take these cases to trial, the expense of a Guardian ad Litem and attorney fees can escalate quickly, said solo family law attorney Sheila L. Romell.

A reliable, objective tool, rather than the parties on the stand tearing each other apart could spare clients financial and emotional stress, said Romell.

Without such a tool it's really hard to catch somebody and know exactly how much they've been drinking, she noted.

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