Polygamy Unbound? The Kody Brown Family and the Future of Plural Marriage

This chapter examines the Kody Brown case and the issues it raised regarding polygamy. In 2013, a federal court in Utah struck down that state's criminal prohibition based on considerations altogether different from those taken into account in British Columbia. The case involved Kody Brown and his four wives. The Browns are “members of a religious group that believes polygamy is a core religious practice.” The county attorney charged with defending the Utah law in the federal district court filed a seven-page memorandum that Judge Clark Waddoups described as lacking in substance. The chapter discusses Waddoups's claim about the perceived “social harm” of Mormon polygamy and asks whether legal prohibitions against adult incest can be justified when partners avoid having children. Finally, it considers the new, “postmodern” form of plural relationship known as polyamory.