18A THE WICHITA EAGLE ■ SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2013
WWW.KANSAS.COM
Polygamy advocates hail ruling in Utah BY MARTIN GRIFFITH Associated Press
Advocacy groups for polygamy and individual liberties on Saturday hailed a federal judge’s ruling that key parts of Utah’s polygamy laws are unconstitutional, saying it will remove the threat of arrest for some families. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups said in the decision handed down Friday that a provision in Utah law forbidding cohabitation with another person violated the First Amendment right of freedom of religion. The ruling was a victory for Kody Brown and his four wives, who star in the hit TLC reality show “Sister Wives,” and other fundamentalist Mormons who believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The Brown family filed a
lawsuit in July 2011 and fled Utah for Las Vegas last year under the threat of prosecution. Anne Wilde of Salt Lake City, co-founder of the polygamy advocacy group Principle Voices, said polygamous families have lived under the threat of arrest for decades and no longer have to worry about being charged with a felony. There are an estimated 38,000 fundamentalist Mormons who practice or believe in polygamy, most living in Utah and other Western states, said Wilde, who was a plural wife for 33 years until her husband died. “Now that we’re no longer felons, that’s a huge relief,” she said. “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 said whether it intends to appeal the ruling. Calls to the office were not immediately returned Saturday. Connor Boyack, president of the Libertas Institute, which defends the cause of individual liberty in Utah, issued a statement Saturday saying the ruling represents “a new beginning and an important invalidation of an unjust law.” He said that while child brides and abuse must be appropriately prosecuted, consenting adults in a plural relationship should not face penalties. The mainstream Mormon church abandoned polygamy in 1890. Today, it strictly prohibits the practice.
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE! Selling Fast
Going to be FUN FUN FUN!
HARTMANARENA.COM STAGE1TICKETS.COM HARTMAN ARENA BOX OFFICE SELECT CD TRADEPOST LOCATIONS OR CALL 316.927.3999