S15.E02: Felons No More

[ladle]

4 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

But maybe not...I think that in some places it requires co-habitation. Since Kody doesn’t live with 3 of the 4 wives, they may not even count as common law. 

Wait, he doesn't?  Forgive me as I'm tuning in again after having not watched in a while... Doesn't he still rotate among the four homes?  

[ladle]

3 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Bigamy, by definition, is the crime of being legally married to more than one person at a time. You can have multiple partners you are “spiritually” married to, but as long as you only have one legal, state-issued wedding certificate, you’re fine.

So, this was not actually true in the case of Tom Green.  Yes, there were other abuses going on there, but it seems like he was convicted of the bigamy charge after the prosecutors demonstrated that he had common-law marriages with more than one wife.

See: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=jpl

"Like most such statutes, Utah’s common-law marriage statute allows for the solemnization as marriages of relationships that have not passed through the typical marriage process under the laws of the state. The prosecutors realized that, based on the unique, ongoing, and ultimately marriage-like relationships that Tom Green continued to enjoy with each of his wives, it would therefore be possible to establish that a state of legal marriage had continued to exist under the terms of the common-law marriage statute—Nevada divorce decrees notwithstanding. If such a marriage could be established and solemnized with one of the wives, it would then be possible to obtain a conviction for bigamy based on Tom Green’s relationships with the other four wives.27 In this manner, the fact that Green and his wives had obtained legal divorces would ultimately prove irrelevant—as long as the state could establish that first common-law marriage. The prosecutors thus filed a motion before a state district court judge requesting that the court issue an order recognizing a valid common-law marriage between either Tom Green and “head wife” Linda Kunz or between Tom Green and second polygamous wife Shirley Beagley.28 This motion was bitterly contested, with separate legal counsel being retained by Tom Green and by his two putatively common-law wives.29 The motion was ultimately successful, however, and on July 10, 2000, Judge Donald J. Eyre issued a retroactive30 order declaring that a valid common-law marriage had existed between Tom Green and Linda Kunz as of November 2, 1995.31 With the now solemnized marriage to Linda Kunz as a foundation, Judge Eyre then found probable cause to bind over Tom Green on charges that his relationships to his other four “wives” were in violation of Utah’s anti-bigamy statute.32 Based upon these grounds, the case went to trial, and on May 18, 2001, Tom Green was convicted by a jury of four counts of bigamy and one count of criminal nonsupport.33 On August 24, 2001, he was sentenced to five years in state prison.34"

[Cetacean]

24 minutes ago, ladle said:

Forgive me as I'm tuning in again after having not watched in a while... Doesn't he still rotate among the four homes?  

No.

[Absolom]

Very, very few states still have common-law marriage on the books.  So first the state the Browns live in must recognize common-law marriage.  Then they must fit within that state's requirements.  In some states it used to be as easy as saying this is my wife to anyone.  In others it required some extensive paperwork requirements.  Again, most states have taken it off the books.  Far too many couples are "living in sin" these days for it to be practical.  

[Fosca]

Utah, understandably given its history, is a bit touchy on the idea of polygamy, so I think the law used to be that if someone said that they were married to more than one person, they could be arrested.  That's changed, which is part of the reason why Kody et al. are thinking about going back.

[itsadryheat]

2 hours ago, Fosca said:

are thinking about going back.

oh goody, another move!

[Irate Panda]

19 minutes ago, itsadryheat said:

oh goody, another move!

I hope so! What’s the over under on how many months they rent the U-Hauls for? 😂 

[suomi]

5 hours ago, Fosca said:

Utah, understandably given its history, is a bit touchy on the idea of polygamy [snipped]

Christine is 48 which is likely the median age of Utah's legislators and judiciary and higher levels of LE, and the intent and extent of polygamy is still all too real for them.

Christine's grandparents and great uncles and great aunts were in the thick of the Short Creek Raid era. Obviously, her parents and aunts and uncles were deeply affected as well.

Many in the Short Creek generation fled to Mexico so they could join plyg colonias that were established without government interference beginning in 1885. Mitt Romney's grandparents and parents are good examples. His grandparents settled a colonia in Chihuahua and his father, a former governor of Michigan, was born there.

When I worked for a hospice agency I met many elderly patients who left the colonias to spend the end of their lives in Utah.

The concept behind the Big Love series (they live among us) has always thrived no matter how ferociously it is denied.

Utah's dirty little secret is that, despite legal and public proclamations, polygamy never went away to anywhere near the degree that is promoted. 

They damn their very recent heritage if they prosecute it and the outside world damns them if they don't.

Edited March 21, 2021 by suomi
clarity

[ladle]

They may as well just purchase the Uhauls at this point.

[deirdra]

5 hours ago, ladle said:

They may as well just purchase the Uhauls at this point.

Of course they are too dumb to look into those moving Pods (portable containers) that get delivered empty, the truck drives away and you can take your time loading them, they get picked up by trucks and delivered to your new location or a storage facility to be emptied when you are ready.  Now that the older kids have moved out, they don't have enough drivers for 4 Uhauls plus all of the family vehicles - they had 17 vehicles that arrived at Robyn's original rennil as the neighbours looked on in horror (and the landlord started thinking about selling the 7-bedroom house to get rid of them).

Edited March 21, 2021 by deirdra

[Pickleinthemiddle]

Just watched Felons no more, again.  They were worried about Kody speeding and getting pulled over and arrested.  They are not residents of Utah  So they wouldn't be breaking any laws.  If the Dargers haven't been arrested yet, neither will the Browns.