A state lawmaker says it’s time to remove the threat of jail time for otherwise law-abiding polygamists.
FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2017, file photo, Kody Brown, left, from TV's reality show "Sister Wives," marches during a protest at the state Capitol, in Salt Lake City. Polygamists have lived in Utah since before it became a state, and 85 years after the practice was declared a felony they still number in the thousands. It's even been featured in the long-running reality TV show, "Sister Wives.
“The law is a failure. It hasn’t stopped polygamy at all and it’s actually enabled abuse to occur and remain unchecked,” said Sen. Deidre Henderson, a Republican. Her proposal to make bigamy an infraction rather than a felony has gathered significant support. It was unanimously approved by a legislative panel Monday, despite resistance from former members of polygamous groups who said it could embolden abusers.
Henderson argues that law, and the legacy of raids as recently as the 1950s, has created a culture of fear that empowers notorious abusers like the polygamous leader Warren Jeffs. His followers wear distinctive, historic-looking dresses, and he is now serving a life prison sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting girls he considered plural wives.
Others, though, say that easing restrictions on polygamous marriages won’t do much to help victims and could even make things worse. Melissa Ellis grew up in the polygamous Kingston group and said she worries that leaders could consider it a victory if the state lightened penalties.
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