POLYGAMY SUPPORTERS HEARTENED: More Washington Blade; ACLU quote

Mark Henkel, a "constitutional conservative" and polygamy advocate, said two recent gay rights victories should pave the way to decriminalizing polygamy laws. He claims the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning state sodomy laws and a Massachusetts case that some say will legalize gay marriage in the Bay State should help polygamists.

"The government does not have the authority to be in the marriage business in the first place," said Henkel, founder of TruthBearer.org, a Web site devoted to the decriminalization of polygamy. ...

Utah polygamists Tom Green and Rodney Holm are currently challenging their convictions for having multiple wives based in part on the Supreme Court’s sodomy ruling. Holm’s attorney is arguing that there must be some other rational basis to ban certain behavior other than sheer moral disapproval.

Legal scholars say that while it is possible the bigamy charges against both men could be dropped as a result of Lawrence vs. Texas, their other convictions would likely remain. Green was found guilty in a separate case of child rape because his first wife was 13 when they first married and began having sex.

Holm, a former Utah police officer, was also convicted on two counts of unlawful sex with a minor.

"Yes, I think [Lawrence vs. Texas] would give a lawyer a foothold to argue such a case," said Art Spitzer, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union. "The general framework of that case, that states can't make it a crime to engage in private consensual intimate relationships, is a strong argument."

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posted by Eve at 10:54 AM | link

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