From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv
On 2026-07-10 2:50 a.m., BTR1701 wrote:
On Jul 9, 2026 at 6:50:39 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
On 2026-07-09 5:54 p.m., anim8rfsk wrote:
The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote:
Verily, in article <112mt4p$1gc3$1@dont-email.me>, did
no_offline_contact@example.com deliver unto us this message:
I've just watched a video about a guy who was married to several women >>>>> who was transporting some of his wives in a pickup and various minors in
a towed U-Haul trailer and despite the multiple wives and children of >>>>> those wives involved in the incident, never once did "bigamy" or
"polygamy" get mentioned as a charge when the court proceedings were >>>>> summed up.
They likely weren't all legal marriages. In the Mormon splinter groups >>>> which still do this, the first/senior wife is the legal wife, but the >>>> husband calls all of them his wives.
I don't think it's illegal as long as there's only one marriage
contract.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_polygamy_in_the_United_States?wprov=sfti1
Polygamy was outlawed in federal territories by the 1882 Edmunds Act, and >>> there are laws against the practice in all 50 states, as well as the
District of Columbia, Guam,[1] and Puerto Rico.[2] Because state laws
exist, polygamy is not actively prosecuted at the federal level.
Thanks for confirming that. The cops must have decided that the other
charges were sufficient and that the polygamy charges would be excessive.
All that means is if you're into polygamy, you just have an "open marriage" with one official/legal wife and lots of women who are "girlfriends" on paper but who you religiously believe to be your wives also.
Short of passing a national law that men and women are forbidden from living together unless they are married, a polygamy ban is unenforceable as a practical matter.
You make a good point. I think the unenforceability aspect is very real
in other countries too. We had a case here of a Muslim whose first wife
had proved unable to have children so he simply married another woman - WITHOUT divorcing the first - and the junior wife started popping out
kids - seven I think - but when his three oldest daughters all starting getting too Westernized, he, his wife, and his eldest son murdered all
three of the girls AND the senior wife, presumably because she was
taking their side. All three of the killers are serving life sentences
now. I'm pretty sure the Immigration authorities would not have let this family into the country if they were openly polygamous so they just
described the senior wife as a cousin and cook rather than the senior wife.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shafia_family_murders
Ultimately, I think bureaucrats rely mostly on what they're told and if
an immigrant tells a lie, they're not going to know except perhaps in
the case of criminal records. If the immigrant has 3 wives but says he
just has one, the immigrant's host country is unlikely to know different
so is going to be unable to tell the country where the immigrant is
trying to go. Mormon polygamy is even easier if they just claim to be in
an open marriage of the kind you describe.
Mind you, things must get complicated in the event of a divorce or
custody dispute but they seem to have their own arrangements for that.
--
Rhino
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