Talk:Polygamy in the United States

Switched talk page
Switched talk page to comply with new article. Zombieisland09 (talk) 02:49, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Other Groups?
Aren't there other groups, besides the FLDS, who practice polygamy in the US? As it stands, the article seems a bit skewed considering the title. It seems it should either be more balanced, or re-titled "Mormon Polygamy in the US." --71.145.143.156 (talk) 06:43, 17 August 2009 (UTC)


 * This seems to be true of the Summary area. It makes sense to have a general article, as titled. But, maybe someone knowledgeable can transplant those aspects of this article into the History section? [07 September 2010] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zanlok (talk • contribs) 23:57, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Laws covering polygamy in the US
Much of what was formally written in this article about the polygamy laws in the US was mistaken or misleading.

Which makes me wonder about the accuracy of the beautifully done map showing how the laws vary by states.

I looked up the relevant law for California and bigamy appears to be a wobbler (able to be charged as a felony or a misdemeanor) as referenced here:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=94706828314+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve 283. Bigamy is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.

There are non-reliable references on the web that claim it is a felony in California but their info is probably out of date -- the punishment used to be 3 years in state prison.

Here is a law firm stating that it is usually punished as a misdemeanor: http://www.morenoriveralaw.com/Publications/AOPNewsletter.aspx?AoPid=38&NewsItemid=3

It's not unreasonable to list it as a felony since that is the maximum possible charge even if it usually is filed as a misdemeanor. But we really need reliable references for all the states.

Also, the current design of the map is arguably more relevant to bigamy (fraudulently marrying more than one person) than polygamy (notoriously marrying more than one person). For polygamy the most relevant questions concern the legality of cohabitation and adultery. Which are legal in California. And whether or not the state recognizes common law marriage -- which California does not. Given those three conditions most polygamist would find it easy to legally live in California by just having a government sanctioned marriage to one spouse and then having all the rest be "spiritual" marriages.

Anyway, the real issue is (... and I hope we don't have to do it, but ...) if someone can't find reliable references for the information in the map we'll need to take it down. Hoping To Help (talk) 09:26, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

All forms?
What do the dark red states on the map mean? When that say "All forms of cohabitation outlawed", what does that refer to? Technically, isn't polygamy "outlawed" in those states (since they are part of the "50 states" in which polygamy is outlawed), so the cohabitation is really just incidental to the crime already taking place? And, if this is so, why isn't polygamy labeled as misdemeanor/felony for those states? Sorry if I'm a little tautological here. But the graph seems to have redundancy and vagueness issues too. NeutronTaste (talk) 09:34, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Technicality
If a man marries two women, are the women biamists as well as the man? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.26.48.211 (talk) 15:32, 12 October 2009 (UTC)
 * No, they are not married. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 14:21, 9 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Depends on the order of events (in California). The first woman to be married, is married. The second, is not legally married as the man is already married to the first. [07 September 2010]

legal bigamy?
If a same-sex couple marries in one of the states that allows it, and one of the partners subsequently gets a marriage license for a opposite-sex marriage in a state that is not recognizing the first same-sex marriage, you can obtain legal bigamy. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 14:21, 9 July 2010 (UTC)
 * The person would be breaking the bigamy laws in the first state since all states that recognize same sex marriages also recognize heterosexual marriages performed in other states. Hoping To Help (talk) 04:42, 10 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Sure, but that is not different with someone who obtained a legal bigamy in a foreign country. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 18:05, 10 July 2010 (UTC)