Federal Judge Throws Out Polygamy Laws

Luke 17:28-30 “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built” but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

A federal judge has thrown out parts of Utah’s state laws against bigamy.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said that Utah’s law forbidding cohabitation with another person violated the First Amendment’s right to freedom of religion. The law said that it was illegal for a man or woman to claim they had more than one husband or wife.

Now, the only way bigamy can be prosecuted in the state is if someone tries to have more than one state-issued marriage license.

Kody Brown and his four “wives,” the stars of the TLC reality TV show “Sister Wives,” hailed the victory. They brought suit against the law in July 2011 and had to flee to Las Vegas last year after they were threatened with felony prosecution.

“Now that we’re no longer felons, that’s a huge relief,” Anne Wilde of the polygamy advocacy group Principle Voices told the AP. “They no longer have to be afraid that someone will knock at their door and take away their kids. This decision will hopefully take away the stigma of living a principle that’s a strongly held religious belief.”

The Utah Attorney General’s Office has not yet said if they will appeal.

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