Utah Challenge to Polygamy Law Cites SCOTUS Ruling on Sodomy

by Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
January 13, 2004

(AgapePress) - The warnings issued last summer in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling throwing out a Texas sodomy law are now coming true.

The high court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that the state's sodomy law was unconstitutional, arguing the state had no right to curtail the sexual behavior of consenting adults. The case involved two men who were arrested after police entered their apartment and found them engaged in homosexual sex. (See Earlier Article)

Many pro-family groups warned that the decision would open the door to legalizing all kinds of other sexual perversions. In fact, one Republican lawmaker -- U.S. Senator Rick Santorum -- predicted in late April that if the Supreme Court struck down the Texas sodomy law, "then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

Now comes word from Utah that a civil rights attorney is challenging the state's ban against polygamy. The lawsuit says Salt Lake City clerks refused a marriage license to a couple because the man was already married to another woman who had consented to the additional marriage.

Mark Shurtleff, attorney general for Utah, tells Associated Press that the lawsuit goes beyond the Supreme Court ruling. "Any time you involve marriage, family, children -- fundamental units of society -- the state does have a compelling interest in what that is," he says. "[Polygamy] happens to be a felony crime here [in Utah]."

But Brian Barnard, the lawyer representing the trio, alleges that denial of a marriage license to his clients violates the First Amendment right to practice their religion. He says his clients are claiming a religious right to what the lawsuit describes as a "sincere and deeply held religious tenet."

"Practicing polygamy for religious reasons is a crime -- it's a felony," he acknowledges. "What my clients want to do is to have that law taken off the books."

Although the Mormon Church officially condemns polygamy, it is estimated that 30,000 Mormons still practice it.