'Sister Wives' Brown family sues to make polygamy legal in Utah

‘Sister Wives’ Brown family sues to make polygamy legal in Utah

Although all Utah criminal bigamy charges have been dropped for the Sister Wives‘ Brown Family, it still is a third-degree felony in the state to just say you have more than one wife (as in, not filing the legal documents, but having “spiritual” marriages like the Browns have.) Because of that, the Browns are fighting back, and have filed a lawsuit against Utah in an attempt to get a “federal judge to overturn the state’s bigamy law as unconstitutional.”

Currently the state maintains that it does not pursue criminal cases in situations were no other law has been committed.

At a hearing this past Wednesday Assistant Attorney General Jerrold Jensen argued to throw out the Brown’s new case because “The plaintiffs here are not going to be prosecuted therefore the case is moot.”

The Browns’ attorney constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley responded that even though their case was dropped, the Browns are still victimized by the stigma of technically being labeled felons. He also argued that the state and county’s policy of not pursuing polygamists who aren’t breaking out laws “does not guarantee that the Browns or anyone else won’t be prosecuted,” and is “clearly an effort to evade a ruling in this case.”

There are about 30,000 practicing polygamists in Utah, and the Browns are not seeking to ask multiple marriage licenses to be issued to someone who is already married. They are simply asking that it not be a felony for people to live, claim, and act like they have multiples spouses.

What do you think? Should this case proceed? Should “spiritual” polygamy stop being a felony in Utah?

It does make sense that people like the Browns should be able to do as they please since they aren’t harming anyone. Like their lawyer says, just because the state doesn’t pursue cases unless there is other criminal activity, it still doesn’t make people like the Browns feel any safer when there is an open investigation.

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i think adults should be allowed to marry whomever they want to.
Caroline

I live in Utah and have no problem if the Brown’s were to be able to get married. The one issue I have is for over 10 years the first three wives collected welfare as single mothers. They all also declared bankrupcy as single mothers. The Brown’s can’t have it both ways. If they want a legal marriage it means Kody and the wives not the state will have to pay for the food and medical care and they only will be able to file bankrupcy every 7 years like the rest of us, not every 2 years switching assests into one person’s name.
MH

I agree. As long as they support themselves then ok.
Hayzii

They don’t support themselves they use welfare and bankruptcy. And it does hurt people it hurts their own children who see their mothers suffering and fighting over this man-child and only get their father every 4 days at the most. These people are scum.
Jancis M. Andrews

Intensive research (check the Internet) on polygamy reveals that this ancient patriarchal practise harms women and children. Only the first, legal wife and her children are entitled to share in the husband’s life insurance, health insurance, vision and dental insurance, pensions, tax benefits, etc. The remaining women are merely concubines in the man’s harem and unless he has provided for them in his will, are on their own and they and their children face poverty.There is no equality whatsoever in polygamy, where one man lords it over several women who must fight for his attention to them and their children. Moreover, he has a different sex partner every night, whereas the women have to line up and take their turn, much like cows waiting to be serviced by a bull. Polygamy comes from the dark ages when women had no rights whatsoever and were considered chattlels to be distributed among men. It’s way past time it was kicked into the garbage can of history. This is the 21st century, not the First century, and women (at least in the First World, although sadly, not in the Third World now have equality wtih men.
- umnope
  
  Yes, ancient practices of polygamy are as you describe, but you aren’t describing modern polygamy at all. And while the wives are not covered, all of the children are. Any man who has a child out of wedlock in this country can cover that child under their health insurance. You think every child born to an unwed mother or divorced parent isn’t covered? Good job with your internet research.
  - http://www.PolygamyIsAbuse.com k.Dee Ignatin
    
    Umnope: Polygamy is a felony crime. Bringing children into the world under a cloud of crimes committed by the parents is wrong.
    
    I hope the Browns are prepared for the anal exam of an IRS audit if they continue to push this case before the courts. If the Utah prosecutor is forced to defend the constitutionality of Utah’s Constitutional prohibition on polygamy, he will be forced to keep his word and prosecute “other crimes.”
    
    There is plenty of evidence that the “Brown family” has filed multiple bankruptcies and lied in some of that documentation. Christine’s bankruptcy documents stated she was a single mother whose only income came in the form of federal food stamp assistance.
    
    If you legalize polygamy and keep up with all this “marriage equality” talk, we will have to provide social security survivor benefits to all those “wives” if something were to happen to the “husband.” How should we do that? Do they each get only a portion of his benefits? That doesn’t seem very equal now, does it? If we have to cut them all a check, in the name of equality, are you ready to pay that bill? Are you ready to completely re-write the family law codes in this country to share child custody with multiple people instead of two people?
    
    No real feminist supports polygamy. It impoverishes and dis-empowers women.
umnope

If this is the way they want to live, leave them alone. Not one of these women seem like they aren’t any less happy than any other woman who has been married for 20 years. Honestly, how many marriages last that long?
- http://www.PolygamyIsAbuse.com k.Dee Ignatin
  
  Umnope: Actually, statistically there is more ‘divorce” and marital dissatisfaction in polygamous ‘marriage.’ Again, if you bother looking into the scientific research done by mental health professionals, the incidence of what are called “negative outcomes” for women and children are clearly elevated within polygamy when compared to monogamous marriage. The Browns are no exception. Janelle was legally divorced before becoming Kody’s next concubine, and so was Robyn.
  
  Are you aware that 20% of the homeless populations in the big cities of Iraq are comprised of the cast off second, third or fourth “wives” and children of polygamous men? The are forced to beg the charity of the very mosques and Imams who supported their entrance into polygamy in the first place.
  
  Are you aware that if polygamy is decriminalized or legalized, Muslim women in this country will be under more pressure to submit to Sharia law, not less?
http://www.PolygamyIsAbuse.com k.Dee Ignatin

Jancis M. Andrews is right. If you decriminalize polygamy in America, you have to decriminalize it for everyone, including the worst of the worst polygamists, like the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints still under convicted child rapist Warren Steed Jeffs, the House of Yahweh messianic cult outside of Abilene, David Koresh in Waco, and every Muslim in Texas, even those whose sworn immigration agreements say they will not practice polygamy inside the USA, and that doing so is a violation of their visa, and cause for deportation back to your country of origin.

Muslims are the most populist polygamist group now in the USA. Maybe someone should ask Mr. Turley about his past representation of members of the Bin Laden Family? If his past clients are any indication of his views on “freedom,” I’m sure the mass concubinage of America’s women to any old patriarchal religious system, as long as it’s done by professing a religion, including that of Joseph Smith, Mohammed or those who claim to be following Abraham won’t keep him up at night. If you can still walk around claiming to want what’s best for the Constitution and for our country, after representing members of the Bin Laden Family…a lot of raped little girls trafficked all over the country for the purposes of polygamist “marriage” isn’t going to linger on your conscience too long either.
Faith

yawn…
who cares about these weirdos
TG

Cody hides behind religion to screw as many women as he wants, basically. He is not a good father, at least from what I have seen on the show. None of the kids respect him at all.

His little two seater car cracks me up, idiot. It is ALL ABOUT CODY. These women are SICK to be with him, obviously they have low self esteem to let a man treat them so barbarically.