In 2001, Juab County District Attorney David O. Leavitt in Utah, USA, successfully prosecuted Thomas Green, who was convicted of criminal non-support and quadruple bigamy for contracting five serial monogamous marriages while living with legally divorced former wives. His cohabitation was considered proof of a common-law relationship with the wives from whom he had divorced while he was still living with them. This premise was later upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in State v. Green, as applicable only in the State of Utah. Green was also convicted of child rape and criminal lack of support. [41] In 1953, the state of Arizona investigated and searched a group of 385 people in the polygamous settlement of Hildale and Colorado City, on the Utah-Arizona border. All the men were arrested and the children were placed with foster families. A judge eventually declared the action illegal, and all returned to the community, which now numbers about 10,000 people. [40] Utah reduced polygamy from a third-degree felony to a misdemeanor on May 13, 2020.

[19] [20] The bill`s main sponsor, Senator Deirdre Henderson, stated that the intent of the legislation was not to legalize polygamy, but to reduce penalties so that members of polygamous communities who are victims of crime can come forward without fear of prosecution themselves. In Canada, polygamy is an offence under section 293 of the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of up to five years` imprisonment,[3] but prosecution is rare. As of January 2009, no one had been prosecuted for polygamy in Canada for over sixty years. [4] That changed in 2014 when polygamy charges were laid against Winston Blackmore and James Oler. [5] Many U.S. courts (e.g., Turner v.S., 212 Miss. 590, 55 So.2d 228) treat bigamy as a felony with strict liability: In some jurisdictions, a person can be convicted of a crime even if they reasonably believed they had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person mistakenly believes that their ex-spouse is dead or that their divorce is final, they can still be convicted of bigamy if they marry a new person.

[18] In some African countries, polygamy is illegal under civil law, but it is still permitted under customary law, where actions traditionally accepted by a particular culture are considered legal. This arguably confusing loophole leads to two types of marriages: “civil” marriages and “habitual” or “religious” marriages, and allows countries like Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone to allow and even support polygamous marriages without formally recognizing them. In 2008, beginning April 4, Texas state authorities temporarily detained 436 women and children after Rozita Swinton, a 33-year-old woman who lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, called Texas Social Services and a local animal shelter claiming to be a 16-year-old girl. In late March, she phoned the authorities, claiming she had been beaten and forced to become the “spiritual” wife of an adult man. In response to their calls, authorities raided the Eldorado ranch, about 40 miles south of San Angelo. YFZ Ranch belongs to The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), a Mormon offshoot that practices polygamy. Two men were arrested for obstructing the raid, but were later released. The priorities of local prosecutors are not covered by this statement. The Federal Penal Code applies throughout the country. It extends the normal definition of polygamy to any type of conjugal union with more than one person at a time. In addition, anyone who supports, celebrates or participates in a rite, ceremony or contract that sanctions a polygamous relationship is guilty of polygamy. Polygamy is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

[ref. needed] Some sects that practice or at least sanction polygamy include the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), The Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Apostolic United Brethren. Polygamy among these groups exists today in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Canada and some neighboring states, as well as among up to 15,000 isolated individuals without an organized church affiliation. [28] Polygamous Latter-day Saint churches are often referred to as “fundamentalist Mormons”; However, the main Latter-day Saint church has rejected polygamy since the early 20th century. Mormon fundamentalist sects tend to gather in individual communities of their own specific sect and basis of polygamy. These small groups range from a few hundred to 10,000 and are located in western North America,[38] including: The Utah Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to effectively decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults and reduce penalties for a practice with deep religious roots in the predominantly Mormon state. Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse. In particular, polygamy is the practice of a man taking more than one wife, while polyandry is the practice of a woman taking more than one husband. Polygamy is a common model of marriage in some parts of the world. In North America, polygamy is not a culturally normative or legally recognized institution since the colonization of the continent by Europeans. Polygamy became a major social and political problem in the United States in 1852 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) announced that a form of practice called plural marriage was part of its doctrine. The U.S.

government`s opposition to this practice led to a fierce legal dispute, culminating when Church President Wilford Woodruff announced the official abandonment of the Church on September 25, 1890. [1] However, renegade fundamentalist Mormon groups living primarily in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico still practice plural marriage. Utah is home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, which abandoned polygamy in 1890 when Utah sought to become a state. However, some apostate sects and groups follow the primitive theological doctrine of plural marriage, which is believed to bring exaltation to heaven. With the exception of Solomon Islands, polygamous marriages are not recognized in Europe and Oceania. In India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, governments recognize polygamous marriages, but only for Muslims.