Judge Clark Waddoups has turned down the motion to dismiss filed by Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Buhman. This was an attempt to declare the issue moot because Buhman had at the last minute adopted a policy of not prosecuting people under the bigamy law unless there was some form of abuse. Judge Waddoups was not impressed by the lateness and fundamentally temporary nature of this change of heart.
This paves the way for a United States District Court to consider for the first time in 120 years whether the general restriction of the practice of polygamy by the criminal law is in itself unconstitutional. As Waddoups had to make a promise not to prosecute polygamy on its own, and as the Governor and Attorney General of Utah had already got out of the case by making such a promise, polygamy on its own is effectively not capable of prosecution in Utah at the moment, and polygamy prosecutions may be outlawed as a result of the case.
Of course, whoever wins, there are likely to be appeals to the 10th Circuit, and ultimately to the US Supreme Court, so this will take years, but the journey there has definitely now begun.
Here is Brown Family Attorney and Professor of Constitutional Law Jonathan Turley on the latest judgement
Here is the Judgement itself.
Here is the Salt Lake Tribune's coverage.
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