21 January 2016

Oral Arguments Were Held In Sister Wives Polygamy Decriminalization Case

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver heard oral arguments today in the appeal by the State of Utah of a Utah District Court decision holding unconstitutional a Utah law criminalizing cohabitation with people of the opposite sex by married people constitutes felony bigamy, even though there is no effort to claim legal recognition for the additional relationships as a marriage.  The prohibition on having two marriage licenses in force at the same time was not challenged.

The parties are stars of the reality TV show "Sister Wives" and relocated to Nevada when they faced a threatened prosecution in Utah.

While the three judge panel grilled lawyers for both sides, Utah was taken to task for its exceptionally poor briefing of the case which has previously been covered at this blog.

Coinciding with this event, the Justice Department is bringing suit against the twin fundamentalist Mormon dominating cities of Hinsdale and Arizona City on the Utah-Arizona border for discriminating against people who are not members of the polygamous FLDS faith.

Previous coverage here.

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