United States Supreme Court Declines to Legalize Polygamy

The United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal of a case that might have recognized a right of polygamy, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The court declined to hear an appeal by a Utah man who sought to have his bigamy conviction overturned because of the Court's landmark 2003 ruling on homosexual rights.

As a result, the state of Utah's bigamy law was upheld, even though it clashes with the religious beliefs of some in the state.

Some Christians, including representatives of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian legal agency which had filed a brief in the case, praised the decision to not hear the case.

"Polygamy is no mere social taboo," Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Chris Stovall said in a press release for the ADF. "It is destructive on multiple levels, and the court was right to turn down review of this attempt to attack appropriate protections of marriage."

He noted that the case involving homosexuality in 2003 involved criminal prosecution for private acts, but the case involving Rodney Holm, the man prosecuted for bigamy by Utah had lived openly and simultaneously in various households.

Holm had been prosecuted by Utah for participating in both "religious marriages" and his legal marriage. Holm and his "wives" did not seek legal recognition of the "religious marriages," and he claimed that under the 2003 Supreme Court decision involving homosexuality, the Lawrence case, the state's prosecution of him was unconstitutional. He claimed the prosecution denied his personal liberty.

The ADF had argued that the Supreme Court need not hear the case nor consider legalizing polygamy.

Stovall said the Supreme Court wisely declined to hear the case involving polygamy and did not need to create a recipe for "social disorder." He said state polygamy laws created by state legislatures protect marriage.

Raymond Berry, one of the attorneys who represented Holm, said there are "literally thousands of people in Utah" who will now have to look over their shoulders in fear because the Supreme Court declined to hear the case that might have legalized polygamy. He said they will now have a fear that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff may come after them as he did Holm. He compared the people to "turtles" who would put their heads in the ground and stay out of the public eye.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, there are an estimated 37,000 polygamists in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah.

In the case involving homosexuality, Lawrence v. Texas, the Court ruled against the Texas sodomy law and that homosexual adults inTexas were not subject to government interference because of their lifestyle. In a dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia, warned that the Supreme Court would, as a result, face legal challenges to state-statues involving same sex marriage, polygamy, prostitution, and others.