The US Supreme Court in 1879 ruled that polygamy is “an offense against society,” holding that it is not protected by religious freedom, just as “human sacrifice” is not protected. One hundred-thirty-two years later, a lawsuit brought by an openly polygamous family – stars of TLC’s reality show “Sister Wives” – asks whether their personal behavior should be exempt from prosecution under Utah’s antibigamy law, just as individuals are not prosecuted for having multiple lovers or sex partners.
Advertising salesman Kody Brown and his family of four wives and 16 children filed suit in federal court Wednesday, asking a US judge to issue an injunction against Utah’s law. Bigamy is a third-degree felony there, and police in Lehi, Utah, began investigating the Browns the day after “Sister Wives” made its television debut in September. Though no charges have been filed against them, the Brown family moved to Nevada in January to escape possible criminal prosecution.
Tags: "Sister Wives", bigamy, first amendment, freedom of speech, intimacy, Kody Brown, polygamy, religious freedom, TLC, unconstitutional, unlawful cohabitation, utah
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