Several prosecutions and lawsuits against polygamists, now pending in Utah, are notable for the constitutional defenses that have been -- or could be -- raised. Polygamy is the practice (usually religious) of having multiple spouses (usually wives). There are two possible lines of constitutional attack on anti-polygamy statutes. One derives from the First Amendment's religion clauses. The other derives from Due Process "right to privacy" concepts -- and in particular, from the Supreme Court's recent holding in Lawrence v. Texas that adults have a privacy right that extends to private, consensual sex acts.
Posted by Editor at July 29, 2004 07:28 PM