BREAKING NEWS (2013): Federal judge’s ruling strikes down criminalization of polygamy
In a historic ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups has ruled that portions of Utah’s polygamy laws are unconstitutional. The 91-page ruling, issued on Dec. 13, has resulted from a lawsuit filed in 2011 by the family of Kody Brown, star of the TLC reality series “Sister Wives.”
The Brown family, which consists of husband, Kody, wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn, and their 17 total children, relocated from northern Utah to Las Vegas in 2011 due to a bigamy investigation that was being pursued by the Utah County Attorney’s Office at the time. Though the investigation was later dropped, the Browns continued pursuing their own lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Utah’s anti-bigamy law.
In a blog post on Friday night, attorney Jonathan Turley, who represented the Browns in the case, said it was with great pleasure that he announced Judge Waddoups’ decision to strike down key portions of the Utah polygamy law as unconstitutional.
“…plural families [can] step out for the first time in their communities and live their lives openly among their neighbors,” Turley wrote.
The ruling specifically targets portions of Utah law that make cohabitation illegal, which, in his ruling, Waddoups said violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Utah’s bigamy statute remains, but Waddoups interpreted the illegality of bigamy to be defined as someone fraudulently acquiring multiple marriage licenses.
The judge’s ruling can be viewed in its entirety at http://www.scribd.com/doc/191414121/Sister-Wives-Ruling.
Written by Cami Cox
