Oops – Utah has been prosecuting polygamists after all

The most important issue in the ‘Brown’s v Utah’ Sister Wives case is that involved in the State trying to kill off the case before it first draws breath. Kody Brown and co don’t have standing, say the state, as they are not suffering any significant harm. The Brown’s say they are worried about being prosecuted, but the Attorney General says he will only prosecute polygamy where there is ‘another crime’ to prosecute, and the Utah County attorney won’t say what he will do, but both attorneys say that it doesn’t matter seeing as no-one has been prosecuted in Utah just for being a polygamist in over 50 years.
Except, it turns out that this is wrong. But it’s not the lawyers that have pointed this out, but a journalist at the Associated Press – see the story here, showing 2 people in separate instances being prosecuted just for polygamy. This has led to Joe Darger, fresh from his ‘Love Times Three” book tour, to enter the fray, pointing out the many negative effects suffered by families as a result of the polygamy ban being in place, even though it is rarely enforced, and the basic unfairness of stigmatising a community by criminalising their normal conduct whenever one of their number commits a crime.

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