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SALT LAKE CITY — Several polygamists spoke against a House bill Friday that would revive Utah's ban on plural marriage in a way that a state lawmaker says would end a lawsuit filed by the family from the reality show "Sister Wives."
HB281 would again make it illegal to live with multiple so-called spiritual wives but reduce the offense from a felony to a class A misdemeanor, lessening the potential penalty to one year in jail.
"My objective is to lessen the hurt that's out there," said Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.
His proposal would restore parts of the bigamy law that a federal judge struck down in 2013, but narrow the definition of the crime. The measure would alleviate polygamists' fear of being prosecuted while realigning the state with its constitutional prohibition of polygamy, he said.
Noel also said the state by policy only goes after polygamists in cases of sexual or physical abuse and fraud.
But that did not comfort polygamists who testified before the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, which endorsed the bill 8-1.
Brady Williams, of the reality TV show "My Five Wives," told the committee the bill sends a clear message that women and children need to go back into hiding. He said abuse victims would not go to authorities for fear they would lose their children.
"I don't think the community will actually feel empowered to come out and get the help they need," he said.
Anne Wilde, a plural wife for 33 years until her husband died, said polygamists have felt safe since the federal ruling, knowing the law could not be used against them. Passing the bill would again cause them to live in fear, she said.
"Consenting adults don't deserve to be put under a shadow of condemnation," Wilde, 80, told the committee.
Said Terry Wayman, "I wish that one of you bright minds or a few of you bright minds would get a bill that does away with it, this antiquated law that is in the Utah Constitution, that way you make us free and not second-class citizens."
Rep. Earl Tanner, R-West Jordan, tried to amend the bill to make polygamy an infraction, which is akin to a traffic ticket and does not call for jail time. He said that would be appropriate compromise to keep something illegal that is technically illegal, but eliminate the fear of going to jail. It failed 5-4.
Noel's bill redefines bigamy as knowing the person has a husband or wife or knowing the other person has a husband or wife, the person purports to marry "and" cohabitates with the other person.
Former Lehi residents Kody Brown and his four wives, of the reality show "Sister Wives," sued Utah in federal court over the law that defined bigamy as purporting to marry "or" cohabitate with another person. The case is now before a federal appeals court.
