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Federal judge declares Utah polygamy law unconstitutional
[SLTRIB] A U.S. District Court judge has sided with the polgyamous Brown family, ruling that key parts of Utah's polygamy laws are unconstitutional.
Waddoups' ruling attacks the parts of Utah's law making cohabitation illegal. In the introduction, Waddoups says the phrase "or cohabits with another person" is a violation of both the First and 14th amendments. Waddoups later writes that while there is no "fundamental right" to practice polygamy, the issue really comes down to "religious cohabitation." In the 1800s -- when the mainstream LDS Churh still practiced polygamy -- "religious cohabitation" in Utah could have actually resulted in "multiple purportedly legal marriages." Today, however, simply living together doesn't amount to being "married," Waddoups writes. "The court finds the cohabitation prong of the Statute unconstitutional on numerous grounds and strikes it," Waddoups later writes. Utah's bigamy statute technically survived the ruling. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... Waddoups took a narrow interpretation of the words "marry" and "purports to marry," meaning that bigamy remains illegal only in the literal sense -- when someone fraudulently acquires multiple marriage licences. The Browns could not immediately be reached Friday night, but issued a statement through their lawyer calling the decision humbling and historic. "While we know that many people do not approve of plural families, it is our family and based on our beliefs," Brown wrote. "Just as we respect the personal and religious choices of other families, we hope that in time all of our neighbors and fellow citizens will come to respect our own choices as part of this wonderful country of different faiths and beliefs." Posted by: Fred 2013-12-15 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=381694 |