SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld Utah’s ban on polygamy, dealing a legal blow to TV’s “Sister Wives†in a ruling that sides with prosecutors who said they need the ban to go after polygamists like imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs.
While some said Monday’s decision could help in the prosecution of crimes like underage marriage and sexual assault, others worried it could send otherwise law-abiding plural families back into hiding and make such investigations harder.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a 2013 ruling that struck down key parts of Utah’s law against bigamy, or holding multiple marriage licenses. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups had found the state violated polygamists’ right to privacy and religious freedom.
The three-judge panel ruled Waddoups should not have considered a lawsuit from Kody Brown and his four wives because they were never charged with a crime and there was little chance they would be.
The Browns will appeal the ruling, either asking the 10th Circuit to reconsider or taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, said their lawyer, Jonathan Turley.