Brilliant!
Polygamy laws next to be tossed?
January 27, 2004
BY ALEXANDRIA SAGE
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SALT LAKE CITY -- When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' law against sodomy last year, at least one justice foresaw the likes of Brian Barnard.
Justice Antonin Scalia warned that the ruling would unleash a wave of challenges to state laws against ''bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity.''
Sure enough, Barnard, a civil rights attorney, has brought a lawsuit challenging Utah's ban on polygamy. And some legal experts say the case could have a fighting chance because of the Supreme Court's gay-sex ruling.
The federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 12, involves a married couple, identified only as G. Lee Cook and D. Cook, and a woman, J. Bronson, who wanted to enter into a plural marriage but were denied a marriage license by Salt Lake County clerks.
Citing the high court's decision last June in Lawrence vs. Texas, the lawsuit claims the county violated the plaintiffs' right to privacy with regard to intimate matters and trampled on their First Amendment right to religious freedom.
Barnard has not disclosed his clients' faith except to say that polygamy is a ''sincere and deeply held religious major tenet.''
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Lawrence case, arguing that overturning the Texas law would open the door to challenges of Utah's polygamy ban.
''We have a long line of cases saying that the [institution] of marriage is the bedrock of society. Therefore, states have a compelling interest in regulating and controlling marriage,'' he said.
But at least one legal expert said Lawrence's logic leads to the legalization of polygamy, since the high court held that morality is not a strong enough justification for the state to ban a practice deemed unpopular or immoral by the majority.
''It's not a case people can sniff at,'' said Richard G. Wilkins, a law professor at Brigham Young University. AP
Polygamy laws next to be tossed?
January 27, 2004
BY ALEXANDRIA SAGE
Advertisement
SALT LAKE CITY -- When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas' law against sodomy last year, at least one justice foresaw the likes of Brian Barnard.
Justice Antonin Scalia warned that the ruling would unleash a wave of challenges to state laws against ''bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity.''
Sure enough, Barnard, a civil rights attorney, has brought a lawsuit challenging Utah's ban on polygamy. And some legal experts say the case could have a fighting chance because of the Supreme Court's gay-sex ruling.
The federal lawsuit, filed Jan. 12, involves a married couple, identified only as G. Lee Cook and D. Cook, and a woman, J. Bronson, who wanted to enter into a plural marriage but were denied a marriage license by Salt Lake County clerks.
Citing the high court's decision last June in Lawrence vs. Texas, the lawsuit claims the county violated the plaintiffs' right to privacy with regard to intimate matters and trampled on their First Amendment right to religious freedom.
Barnard has not disclosed his clients' faith except to say that polygamy is a ''sincere and deeply held religious major tenet.''
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Lawrence case, arguing that overturning the Texas law would open the door to challenges of Utah's polygamy ban.
''We have a long line of cases saying that the [institution] of marriage is the bedrock of society. Therefore, states have a compelling interest in regulating and controlling marriage,'' he said.
But at least one legal expert said Lawrence's logic leads to the legalization of polygamy, since the high court held that morality is not a strong enough justification for the state to ban a practice deemed unpopular or immoral by the majority.
''It's not a case people can sniff at,'' said Richard G. Wilkins, a law professor at Brigham Young University. AP
