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SALT LAKE CITY — The polygamous family featured in the reality series "Sister Wives" wants the entire 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to review a decision earlier this month upholding the cohabitation provision in Utah's polygamy law.
Attorney Jonathan Turley, who represents Kody Brown and his four wives, filed a petition late Monday asking the Denver-based court to vacate the opinion of a three-judge panel. The panel found that the Browns' lawsuit against Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman is moot because there is no credible threat that they would be prosecuted under the law.
Turley called the panel's decision chilling for families like the Browns.
"It means that a family can be targeted by a prosecutor for years and publicly denounced as felons under state law for their consensual private relationships," according to the petition.
If the entire 10th Circuit Court, made up of 19 judges, declines to hear the case, the Browns would go the U.S. Supreme Court, the petition says.
Related:
Court hands defeat on polygamy to family from 'Sister Wives'
A federal appeals court Monday overturned a judge's decision striking down the cohabitation provision in Utah's polygamy law.The three-judge panel ordered U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups to vacate his decision striking down the cohabitation provision and to dismiss the lawsuit. Waddoups deemed Utah's ban on polygamous cohabitation violated the Browns' religious freedom rights in December 2013.
Utah appealed the ruling, arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not recognize the practice of polygamy as a fundamental right, and state laws protects women and children from abuse.
The Browns sued in 2011 and fled their home in Lehi for Las Vegas after Buhman threatened to prosecute them. In most polygamous families, the man is legally married to one woman and "spiritually married" to the others.
In May 2012, Buhman announced that his office would only prosecute polygamists who induce a partner to marry through misrepresentation or are suspected of committing crimes such as fraud or abuse.
