Judge Rule's Utah Law Banning Polygamy Is Unconstitutional

Polygamy in Utah is OK, a U.S. District Court judge ruled Friday.

Judge Clark Waddoups ruled that a Utah polygamy law prohibiting cohabitation goes against the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution. The judge's ruling is a victory for Kody Brown and his family, who are famous for staring in TLC's reality series "Sister Wives."

The judge ruled bigamy in the literal sense, meaning actually having more than one marriage license, is illegal.

But Waddoups' ruling focused on a key phrase of Utah's polygamy statute that says "cohabits with another person" is illegal. In Utah, cohabitation, or multiple people living together, at one time meant appearing to have multiple legal marriages, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. In today's society, living together does not translate to actually being married, the judge wrote in his ruling.

Utah began and investigation of Brown and his four wives after "Sister Wives" first aired, Utah's Desert News reported. The Browns were forced to flee to Las Vegas from their Lehi, Utah home in 2010 as a result. Kody Brown and his wives filed their lawsuit in July 2011, claiming that Utah's polygamy statute violated their constitutional right to privacy.

Brown's wives showed their happiness for the ruling on twitter. "I feel blessed beyond belief tonight. No words can express how I love being free!" tweeted Christine Brown, one of Kody Brown's wives

"While we know that many people do not approve of plural families, it is our family and based on our beliefs," Brown wrote in a statement after the judge's ruling. "Just as we respect the personal and religious choices of other families, we hope that in time all of our neighbors and fellow citizens will come to respect our own choices as part of this wonderful country of different faiths and beliefs," The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

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