The Utah state senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to effectively decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults, reducing penalties for a practice with deep religious roots in the predominantly Mormon state. The bill, which would treat the offense of plural marriage as a simple infraction on par with a parking ticket, now moves to the Utah house of representatives, where it is likely to face greater resistance.
The bill swiftly cleared the Republican-controlled senate on a vote of with little discussion. Under current law, polygamy — typically involving a man who cohabits with and purports to marry more than one wife — is classified as a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
However, fraudulent bigamy — in which an individual obtains licenses to marry more than one spouse without their knowledge, or seeks to wed someone underage without her consent — remains a felony. The chief sponsor of the measure, the state senator Deirdre Henderson, said the intent of the bill is not to legalize polygamy but to lower the penalties so those from polygamous communities who are victims of crimes can come forward without fear of being prosecuted themselves.
It also would make it easier for otherwise law-abiding polygamists to obtain access to critical services such as medical or mental healthcare, education or even employment without fear, she said.
Some polygamy advocates have pushed back, arguing that those enhancements create an unfair association with their communities. Melissa Ellis grew up in the polygamous Kingston group and said she worries that leaders could consider it a victory if the state lightened penalties. Daniel Thatcher. Facebook Twitter Email. Polygamists still go to jail in Utah. The Browns left following a bigamy investigation on them before that happened. There is a history of the state and the feds cracking down on polygamy in communities like Short Creek.
The people in favor of the strict laws against polygamy in Utah say that they are there for protection of children, and to make sure that if someone is committing another crime, like child abuse, they can also be prosecuted for polygamy. People like the Browns and others who advocate for the legalization of polygamy say these laws actually have the opposite effect.
Public figures like the Browns, and even people who are not on TV, are sometimes concerned that just by being in a plural family, they risk prosecution. Is there any sense of why they are moving to Arizona?
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