The literary work The Book of J by Harold Bloom presents polygamy in a very open and natural light, describing plural marriage as if it was not an illegal or sinful act but an ordinary act that is accepted: “…Rachel becomes another in J’s line of heroines, commencing with Sarai and Rebecca…”(216). The act of polygamy is not a foreign idea when it comes to this book; although it was a very different time period then now, issues of the moral and basic human rights come to play when discussing the idea of polygamy. This paper will describe and examine the legal aspects of polygamy in the United States today and the conflict of religious freedom with limitation of polygamy. Polygamy in the United States is illegal and is an ongoing controversial
…show more content…
However, in states like Utah and Colorado, where polygamy tends to happen more, the laws are stretched a bit and it isn’t so strict there. Utah has the highest number of Mormons and this correlates to the loose interpretation of polygamy laws in the state (Olaveson). Mormons are a religious group that practices polygamy and they believe that it is their religious process to do so. Recently, laws concerning anti-polygamy in Utah have been revised because of one specific court case that came about: the Brown case. The Brown case was about a man, who challenged the anti-polygamy law, named Kody Brown who was a star of a reality TV show in which he had 4 wives and 17 children. Brown argued that the government forbidding the cohabitation violated rights to privacy and religious freedom (Schwartz). In the case, the judge ruled in their favor by providing quotes and conclusions from the case Lawrence v. Texas. For example, he quotes that the Constitution protects people from “unwarranted government intrusions into a dwelling or other private places” and “an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression and certain intimate conduct” (Shwartz). This simply means that if the state of Utah forbids the cohabitation, even if it’s apart of one’s religion, than the state of Utah is violating the Constitution by restricting freedom of religion. The court ruled in favor of Kody Brown and he continues …show more content…
It is hard to justify when a person is committing a crime by practicing polygamy because many polygamists are secretive and the government is limited as to how much they can investigate. However, if one does get caught in the crime the federal consequences remain strict and one can be convicted of a felony, fined, and imprisoned. Even so, anti-polygamy laws are challenged by citizens, which point out that the federal government violates the right to privacy and the freedom of religion. The freedom of religion plays an important role in the laws regarding polygamy but there are limitations to that. Polygamy is a federal crime in the United States but is slowly evolving through court cases and hearings that provide the information that anti-polygamy laws violate privacy and the freedom of
However, in states like Utah and Colorado, where polygamy tends to happen more, the laws are stretched a bit and it isn’t so strict there. Utah has the highest number of Mormons and this correlates to the loose interpretation of polygamy laws in the state (Olaveson). Mormons are a religious group that practices polygamy and they believe that it is their religious process to do so. Recently, laws concerning anti-polygamy in Utah have been revised because of one specific court case that came about: the Brown case. The Brown case was about a man, who challenged the anti-polygamy law, named Kody Brown who was a star of a reality TV show in which he had 4 wives and 17 children. Brown argued that the government forbidding the cohabitation violated rights to privacy and religious freedom (Schwartz). In the case, the judge ruled in their favor by providing quotes and conclusions from the case Lawrence v. Texas. For example, he quotes that the Constitution protects people from “unwarranted government intrusions into a dwelling or other private places” and “an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression and certain intimate conduct” (Shwartz). This simply means that if the state of Utah forbids the cohabitation, even if it’s apart of one’s religion, than the state of Utah is violating the Constitution by restricting freedom of religion. The court ruled in favor of Kody Brown and he continues …show more content…
It is hard to justify when a person is committing a crime by practicing polygamy because many polygamists are secretive and the government is limited as to how much they can investigate. However, if one does get caught in the crime the federal consequences remain strict and one can be convicted of a felony, fined, and imprisoned. Even so, anti-polygamy laws are challenged by citizens, which point out that the federal government violates the right to privacy and the freedom of religion. The freedom of religion plays an important role in the laws regarding polygamy but there are limitations to that. Polygamy is a federal crime in the United States but is slowly evolving through court cases and hearings that provide the information that anti-polygamy laws violate privacy and the freedom of