By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Salt Lake Tribune
A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a family of reality TV show stars who want to see polygamy decriminalized.
Utah state attorneys argued the "Sister Wives" suit should be dismissed after a prosecutor pledged not to prosecute them for bigamy, but U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups disagreed. In his Friday ruling, Waddoups wrote that a new Utah County Attorney’s Office policy to avoid prosecuting consenting adult polygamists in the future seems to have been ploy to avoid the suit.
Read the entire article here: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54718559-78/ruling-browns-utah-waddoups.html.csp
Read U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups' ruling here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/103177874/Refusal-to-Dismiss-Sister-Wives-081712
I wonder what the background is of Clark Waddoups.
ReplyDeleteProbably a Mormon
ReplyDeletePeople need to understand that polygamy is NOT “sister
ReplyDeletewives” and “big love”. UT, AZ, TX and other
states "turn a blind eye" to polygamy where children
(girls as young as 12) are married off to much older men and then live off of welfare, food stamps
and Medicaid (known as "bleeding the beast")... as discussed in new
book "plygs". The greater problem with legalizing polygamy is that there are more than 40,000 members of the FLDS Church that currently are practicing "bleeding the beast" and a number of men have already been convicted of sexually abusing little girls, including their leader, Warren Jeffs who is serving a life sentence
for child rape. He has recently ordered that only 15 men in the group can procreate
with ANY of the women of their choice within the group. Making polygamy legal gives this group of FLDS that are are
nothing but pedophiles and welfare cheats... a GOLDEN TICKET....
Thanks, we get it.
DeleteUh, wasn't TX the state that put Jeffs and others in prison for raping young "brides"?
DeleteBleeding the beast??? How about put things in perspective!. Take two of your wealthiest billionaires and all their tax loop holes and the amount they save is HUUUUUGE!! The polygamists and their "bleeding the beast" is a drop in the bucket, basically an economic nonissue!!!
Deletemy two cents worth.. PLEASE show me your FACTS that "The greater problem with legalizing polygamy is that there are more than 40,000 members of the FLDS Church that currently are practicing "bleeding the beast" and a number of men have already been convicted of sexually abusing little girls, including their leader, Warren Jeffs who is serving a life sentence".
DeleteI am not saying I am endorsing Polygamy..what I am saying is unless there are FACTS to back up your statements.. walk carefully.
Do you know that the Courts in the USA have said words you type on the internet can be used in Court against you?
This site started out as a fun site.... i am still happy i found it. lately though, people get on the soapboxes.. its ugly.
I certainly would not appreciate someone trying to state facts on me they couldn't back up. As Anonymous 1 said.. we get it.. we get it...
Again it enjoyable to poke fun at tweets.. discuss issues in a respectful manner..please again have your facts. Thank you
Anon 834, failure to pay or creative accounting is wrong however actively bleeding the US taxpayer of money, welfare fraud, is different. Read the 19th wife, even as early as Smith and Young, do the fundies have no respect for the government and actively seek anyway to bleed it in all possible ways. The more I learn the more I realise that these people are the most morally currupt hypocritical fanatics I have ever heard of. The fact that they claim to be people of G-d is joke, a cult for certain, moral, ethical even humane is a stretch. Rant over
Delete"however actively bleeding the US taxpayer of money, welfare fraud, is different"
DeleteIt depends on your perspective....
If you start from the premise that individuals should not own property or other possessions, and the fruit of everyone's labor goes to the state for redistribution, then owning a home, or a car, or having a pantry stocked with food reserves is criminal. The more you keep for yourself the greater your crimes.
I don't subscribe to that notion, so I do very much resent the polygamists actively bleeding the beast.
This guy called "Anonymous" appears to think a little differently.
Why ,pray tell, should the taxpayers finance other people's attempts to become a god?
DeleteWhat makes a man so special that he is entitled to burden society wirh his choices?
"Take two of your wealthiest billionaires and all their tax loop holes and the amount they save is HUUUUUGE!!
Delete"The polygamists and their "bleeding the beast" is a drop in the bucket, basically an economic nonissue!!! "
A 'nonissue' !1?
Well no, not really.
I am not one of the two billionaires who has access to loopholes and dodges.
It is not a *drop in the bucket* to me when it impacts my family's taxes. We work hard for a living. We don't cheat or lie on our tax returns. We don't run up debts with no intention to pay.
We don't use religious excuses to get bogus benefits which DO come out of you and me and Ma and Pa taxpayers who play by the rules. Should we have to contribute to these people's scams?? I don't think so.
I get that SWB is fun, as it should be. I appreciate and enjoy it too, but this site has also done a great job informing the members of issues about Plyg life and ethics (or lack of) that go beyond just what TLC's SisterWives is airing. SWB does its homework and inspires its members to do theirs.
Knowledge is a wonderful thing...whether the courts choose to uphold it or not.
Kody Brown and his 'wives' are a blatant example of how "Bleeding the Beast" works, and it is not an 'nonissue' to many.
I'm sorry amused that you don't see the big picture. My point is that your richest aren't getting rich only through tax loops they're using your money too, lots of your tax paying dollers go to the rich through corporate subsidies, bailouts, etc. The polygamists really are a tiny portion of this bleeding the beast. I can see why you would be infuriated that they're abusing the system but they really are small potatos in scamming the government for taxpayer dollers.
DeleteAnon 6:45,
DeleteNot to worry, I see the big picture.. Your point was clear, not obscure. However, I don't choose to get into the *big* picture politics here. There are plenty of other sites and Blogs for that. Agree? :))
As I understand it, this Blog is specifically addressing the Browns, and Polygamy as a whole, including *their culture* of abusing the system. And even if some may see their scamming as *small potatoes*, they really shouldn't get a pass for doing it.
Peace
Well played, Kody. You'll get five more years out of this before it hits the Supreme Court, maybe a dramatic hearing or two, and heck maybe you'll even legalize this dysfunction. Now you get all the attention every time you drag those bullies into court for saying those mean things about you, when you went on TV to flaunt the law. Well played, indeed.
ReplyDeleteMan, how great would it be if they had to repay all the government aide?
ReplyDeleteKody is responsible to pay back any aid he has gotten for his children...My question is this. ( though it is a mute point as he has come on T V claiming all his children).. is he on all their Birth Certificates?
DeleteI'm really sorry, but this one was too much to pass up. The phrase you are looking for is, "moot point".
Deletethank you for the "moot point" laughs. i knew i had done it wrong.. i was tired and a little unsettled about the bleeding beast comment made above without any facts.
DeleteI'm guessing the judge either wants the state to follow the polygamy law that's in the books or not change its policy due to outside sources but not tell anyone about the change. It's probably everyone's fault in this case. Though the state can prove pretty easily that when the Brown's ran from the law that they weren't in any real danger. Aside from manipulating their children in "fear of the law". This is going to end up messy and stupid...
ReplyDeleteSorry, unrelated but just finished watching all seasons of Big Love on fastpass. Enjoyed going back and reading about all the discussions about it. If you haven't watched I highly recommend :)
ReplyDeleteI too just finished Big Love on my HBOgo and it is so strange how it mirrors the Browns or vice versa, right down to the "sour juice"MLM scam. Maybe Kody seems himself as a Bill Henrickson wanna be. Well you know with wanting to make poly legal and all. He certainly doesn't have the work ethic or intelligence that the character does.
DeleteI'm rewatching-I'm about to start the third season.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Waddoups BYU educated,, that says it all
ReplyDeleteBUT,, the real question is this,, WHY are these people not prosecuted when the law is on the books, polygomy is illegal, since the case has been presented twice to the Supremes and both times it was upheld to be illegal,, are the states not in violation of federal law ans subject to federal lawsuits filed against the states, makes no sense to me,
I may be in the minority here but I do not see a problem with legalizing polygamy. I think it would bring polygamist out of the woodwork, which in turn would make it easier to weed out and prosecute the law breakes; ie welfare fraud and child brides.
ReplyDeleteI don't think, for one second, that Kody wants polygamy legalized. He just wants it decriminalized. If it were legal, it would be impossible to bleed the beast and defraud the welfare system for a living.
DeleteAnd when it's LEGAL for one man to marry several women, then well, lesbian and guy communes should be able to all get married to eachother. And I want to marry my dog, too.
Please don't start this argument. Regardless of how you feel on the issue of gay marriage, it is offensive to compare LGTBQ persons to animals.
DeletePeople can consent to marriage, animals cannot.
I agree with Lobotomized. I don't think Kody (and most plygs) want polygamy legalized. They just want it decriminalized. This way they can go about business as usual, welfare fraud left and right but live out in the open as polygamists. How many men in those marriages would be lining up to have their names assigned LEGALLY to birth certificates and have the WHOLE family income be counted when applying for benefits and be sued for divorce possibly numerous times and run the risk of expensive support orders...
DeleteThis issue really has me fascinated. At first I too thought, what's the harm in legalizing this behavior with consenting adults. Then I began to think it all through and for so many reasons, this cannot be legalized.
Next, look at the mess that would be visited upon our court system (how would you begin to separate property and assign support orders in cases of divorce when you have 3, 4, 5 (or where is the limit, 100?) wives/spouses. How would you handle situations where someone wanted to add someone to the marriage. Would you have to require consent from all involved? How could a man with 5 wives and very little income even be assigned any support to a woman that left the marriage with let's say, 5 kids. So it's the MAN who marries the women but the women are not married to each other.???.What if a woman wanted to add a woman to the marriage and actually marry someone else...See the messes this would cause?..Who would define the perimeters? Who would decide things like legal authority if one falls ill. ...Again how would the courts even begin to sort out these messes. By it's very nature it is oppressive to women. I could go on and on. It's just mind boggling to me that so many watch Sister Wives and think it's a great way to live. If you really look at how they live, is that really a family? They don't even live under one roof ...I could "almost" buy it if it was a small group actually functioning as ONE family and not splinter families that just get together now and then but have separate houses and lives..I don't know..I really would like to do more reading on the subject. If anyone has any good reading suggestions I would love to hear them. Thank you!!
Again, I honestly don't believe they want it legalized nor do I think for a moment if it was, they would be lining up to make these marriages legal..
I can't help but think this is going to backfire on Kody.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking the same thing. This will all blow up in his face. He is so dumb, he will never see it coming.
DeleteI hope it does. Hopefully it will also get out to the rest of the world how unsustainable & unhealty polygamy is, but I'm not holding my breath either
DeleteAm I the only one to ask this question . . What do you do with the surplus of men in these communities? If the birthrate is 50/50, doing the math, I see that lots of guys are going to miss out. I know what the extremist sects do, they dump them, but what do these more "civilized" communities tell their sons?
ReplyDelete