Court hands defeat on polygamy to family from ‘Sister Wives’

The Sister Wives family was dealt a serious blow on Monday, when a federal appeals court dismissed their lawsuit challenging Utah polygamy laws.

The family will appeal the ruling and either ask the 10th Circuit to reconsider or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said their lawyer, Jonathan Turley. The ruling handed down Monday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver found the family can’t sue because prosecutors never filed charges against them and authorities later said they wouldn’t prosecute consenting adult polygamists.

“Sister Wives” star Kody Brown has lost in appeals court in his argument that having four wives does not violate Utah’s anti-bigamy laws. While polygamy has essentially been decriminalized since that decision, this new ruling brings back a law prohibiting married people from living with additional partners even if they are not legally married to the other “spouses”. The family found itself under investigation in 2011 by Lehi police when they began appearing on their TLC reality-TV show “Sister Wives”.

“Similar to our own office policy, Utah County only prosecutes bigamy crimes against those who induce marriage under false pretenses or if there is a collateral malfeasance, such as fraud, domestic abuse, child abuse, sex abuse or other abuse”, also explained Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a statement. The program – starring Kody Brown, his legal wife, Meri, and his three “spiritual” wives, Janelle, Christine and Robyn – was “refreshingly frank”, and not as salacious as you’d expect, given the subject matter.

There are about 30,000 polygamists in Utah, according to court documents. “It will be an honor to continue this fight with the Brown family in seeking the recognition of equal religious and speech rights for all families in Utah”.

Despite the defeat on changing the law, the representing attorney for the family said, they were considering to make an appeal. I still maintain that the true conservative position on these subjects is to say that it is outrageous for the government – at any level – to demand a permission slip (or license) and charge a tax (in the form of a fee) in order for people to obtain Big Brother’s blessing over a private ceremony where they pledge their commitment to each other, either in private or in front of friends and family. In 2013 and 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Clarke Waddoups ruled in the Browns’ favour, and in turn struck down the Utah law banning polygamy in terms of cohabitation.

“We’re only guilty of trying to love a different way than the norm”, he said.

Polygamists will still only be prosecuted if they have been linked to other crimes.

“We have all been told over and over again, ‘We need to protect the principle of plural marriage at any cost, ‘” Decker said.