One month ago, United States District Court Judge Clarke Waddoups handed down his final ruling in favor of my clients in the Sister Wives case. Utah Attorney General, Sean Reyes has now filed his notice of appeal in the case — a move that will take this historic case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver and potentially to the Supreme Court.
Previously, Judge Waddoups handed down an historic ruling striking down key portions of the Utah polygamy law as unconstitutional. Only one count remained: the Section 1983 claim that state officials (notably prosecutor Jeffrey R. Buhman) violated the constitutional rights of the Brown family in years of criminal investigation and public accusations. A month ago, he ruled in favor of the Brown family on that last count as well.
We are prepared to defend this and the prior ruling in Denver and I will be joined by our local counsel, Adam Alba (a former GW student) as well as our team of GW law students.
It is a rather curious position for the state of Utah in seeking to reverse one of the strongest defenses of religious liberty handed down in decades. This is a discretionary appeal and nothing compelled the state or Mr. Reyes to try to reverse the District Court of Utah. Mr. Reyes takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. The final judgment did precisely that.
After that decision, abuse of spouses and children will continue to be prosecuted regardless of whether they occur in monogamous or polygamous families. These protective services will only be strengthened now that many families can openly integrate into society and not fear prosecution merely because of their family structure. What remains of the statute was narrowly construed by the Court to limit future prosecutions to traditional bigamy, i.e. individuals with multiple marriage licenses. Neither the Attorney General nor the state of Utah should fight a ruling that reaffirmed freedom of religion and equal protection. Utah is a state that was founded by citizens seeking those very rights against government abuse. Utah is better place because of the courageous decision of Judge Waddoups and the commitment of the Brown family in defense of our Constitution. Now the state will seek to reverse that outcome and walk back to the long-troubled history surrounding this law.
The Browns remain entirely committed to fighting to preserve the protections of religion, speech, and privacy established in this case for their family as well as other citizens. As lead counsel, it will be a distinct honor to defend not just the Brown family but this historic decision by Judge Waddoups.
Jonathan Turley
Lead Counsel for the Brown Family
The nematomorph hairworm lives in water. Grasshoppers and crickets are the host. The hairworm starts out in water where it is ingested by grasshoppers and crickets when they drink. They feed off the insects, infecting their brains. These evil parasites are able to get their hosts to literally commit suicide by jumping into bodies of water and drowning, returning the parasite back home; where they find another host to feed off of, drive crazy, and commit suicide. NEVER be a host to a parasite, they will destroy you.
Utah Attorney General, Sean Reyes, using the state coffers for his personal political gain, I find that disturbing.
I cannot see the importance for the AG to appeal this decision other than as some have suggested here for political reasons. I wonder if also it was the section 1983 action that worries the state more than anything, hoping to cast a chill over anyone else considering such actions against the state.
And Squeeky, I thought you came down on the side of religious freedom. Or do you only approve of certain Christian religions?
Squeeky, huh? I’ll let you know, I was married to one man at a time, who was the father of all four of my kids. I am scratching my head here by your comment, “look in the mirror for my answer”, lol. 😕
Why should I be affronted by what seems to be very nice people do in the privacy of their home. If they split, oh well, the guy gets to work extra hard to pay child support, what’s it to YOU? Their children do not seem to be abused, nor do they seem to be the types who marry their young daughters off to old men. They seem quite modern.
One wife is enuff for me.
Squeeky
Although I do agree with you, the definition of marriage is no longer consider between just one man and one woman. As you know it is considered acceptable between two women, two men, an man and a donkey and even a woman and her cat. CRAZY. I know
“Marriage is between one man and one woman in this country, and it needs to stay that way.”
The only way it will stay that way is if you fools boycott civil marriage for a while, inform your legislatures that you will not enter civil marriage unless it is clearly defined as One Man One Woman
Long as you continue to enter civil marriage, you have no say as to who may marry whom – – Go and do what you must Judas, take the states offered coin of silver and bear false witness to civil marriage – –
@Annie
Yes, Annie, it is. It should be an affront to everybody with a lick of sense, which is admittedly an increasingly smaller number each day. Marriage is between one man and one woman in this country, and it needs to stay that way.
What if this little bundle of marital bliss breaks up??? A man has a hard enough time paying child support for one wife and the kids. Who is going to pay when these people split the sheets??? Look in the mirror for your answer. Not to mention the poor little kids having to grow up in this f*cked up environment.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky – there is a time when I would have agreed with you, but now, what the hell. I don’t care what or who you marry as long as you support them or they are supported.
Why Squeeky? Is their life an affront to you?
Good for Utah. I hope they win the appeal and stick the stud for this little herd of fillies in jail for a while.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
States rationale of marriage is to reduce the number of children being raised by unmarried parents . . . To bring the child of the co-habit from the “Skim Milk” level to the “Whole Milk” level
Which child then of Bob, Sally and Sue shall remain as “Skim Milk,” which child shall be as “Whole Milk”
Child of Bob and Sue or
Child of Bob and Sally ?
Good luck professor.
Eric Holder is resigning.
I think this one is very difficult to predict in terms of both the initial panel and later potential en banc composition.
What about the other side issues in that the hobby lobby decision has made this much more likely to be winnable for the state…l
Wouldn’t Old Testament conservatism be more conservative than the one man, one woman version of marriage?
Paul
While the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has developed a reputation, how parties will fare on appeal in cases that can go either way often depends on the identity of the judges on the 3 judge panel. That is true in all courts of appeal, not just the 9th Circuit. The 9th Circuit is large and diverse, so you have a a wider range of possible judges and judicial “philosophies” (One can argue “philosophies” is a fancy word for “predispositions”. )
In the 9th Circuit you learn which judges will be on your panel a week before oral argument. In the 7th Circuit you learn which judges are on your panel when you show up for oral argument.
I wish Professor Turley well in the 10th Circuit on this case.
Don de Drain – what are your chances of being overturned if you are on the winning side of a Ninth Circuit decision? 😉
When I first moved to Arizona, politicians in Arizona and Utah were scared to death of the polygamists on what was called ‘the Arizona strip.’ Now, they like prosecuting them. The times they are a’changin’.
JT you are lucky you are not in the Ninth District where you could expect to lose. At least in the Tenth, you should have a solid chance of being upheld.
JT you are incorrect. As in the Ginsberg post today, POLITICS compelled the appeal. You should say there was no compelling “legal” reason for the appeal. You are a hero for my daughter who loves the show. Denver is a great city. Too bad the airport is in Kansas!!