I just heard a news report about this ruling, a few minutes after reading this, and the radio report did not report some of the important aspects.http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/2013/dec/16/utah-ruling-polygamy-absolutely-right/
Monday, Dec. 16, 2013
Jay Bookman
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If you read the decision by U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups -- an appointee of President George W. Bush -- you'll see that it is limited in its impact and quite conservative in its approach. In fact, I have a hard time believing that anyone honestly concerned about limited government and personal freedom could do anything but applaud his ruling.
Let's begin with what it does not do: Waddoups' ruling does not in any way require government to recognize a polygamous marriage. It does not legalize such marriage. It does not force or even allow the state of Utah to issue multiple marriage licenses to a single person, or to extend the benefits of legal marriage to those living in polygamy. It does not alter laws against bigamy that limit a person to one legally recognized marriage at any time.
Instead, it strikes down one peculiar aspect of Utah law. Under that provision, it is a criminal act for an adult who is legally married to "cohabit" with any other person. In other words, if you decided to separate from your spouse in Utah and live with another person, you are by law a bigamist and could be criminally prosecuted. As the Utah Supreme Court ruled in 2006, "cohabitation alone would constitute bigamy pursuant to the statute."
However, that provision is never used in such cases of simple adultery. The only time the law has been invoked is against people who cohabit and claim to do so for religious purposes. In short, adultery is OK in the eyes of the state of Utah, but it is the claim of religious purpose that turns the living arrangment into a felony. And government cannot do that. As Waddoups concludes, the law "must be stricken as a facial violation of the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment."
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