Free Republic

We can’t get away with anything anymore. But then again, could we ever? Last week, twenty-first century, warp-speed technology caught a rascal’s bigamy thanks to the electronic wizardry of Facebook. A Seattle, WA corrections officer was himself in need of correction. Alan O’Neill left his wife, changed his name and remarried without divorcing her. New name, new wife; who’s to know? Facebook suggested a friendship connection between first wife Eleanor and second wife Teri under the “People You May Know” feature. Eleanor went to Teri’s Facebook page and saw a picture of Teri and Alan toasting each other beside their...

We can’t get away with anything anymore. But then again, could we ever? Last week, twenty-first century, warp-speed technology caught a rascal’s bigamy thanks to the electronic wizardry of Facebook. A Seattle, WA corrections officer was himself in need of correction. Alan O’Neill left his wife, changed his name and remarried without divorcing her. New name, new wife; who’s to know? Facebook suggested a friendship connection between first wife Eleanor and second wife Teri under the “People You May Know” feature. Eleanor went to Teri’s Facebook page and saw a picture of Teri and Alan toasting each other beside their...

A Pierce County correctional officer is in trouble for marrying one woman, while still married to his first wife. Alan O'Neill moved out of the home he shared with his first wife, changed his name and took up with another bride, without getting a divorce. When O'Neill's first wife became aware of his second wife from posts on Facebook, she turned to his mother for help. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said the man then returned to his first wife and admitted that, yes - he had married another woman. If convicted of bigamy, O'Neill could spend up to a...

Second, if marriage is redefined once, it will be done so again. Polygamy will be next. Already it has been getting a makeover courtesy of Hollywood – just take a look at the drama Big Love (also written by Dustin Lance Black). Polygamy rights groups have suddenly appeared and they are getting a fair hearing on TV and in print. In 2011, a law professor at George Washington University published a convincing op-ed in the New York Times in which he excoriated the hypocrisy of a society that elevates some consensual relationship but demonises others: “It is widely accepted that...

To obtain a City of Toronto nuptial licence, both applicants must swear there is no “prior marriage.” Barbara Daniels doesn’t remember the man she wed in 1978 telling that particular lie — there were so many. “He’d talk Jesus off the cross, that guy. He was a rotter from the word go,” says the Ottawa nurse, who turns 70 next week. On Thursday, her ex-husband, Oliver Killeen, pleaded guilty in a Toronto courthouse to one count of bigamy after admitting he married Daniels while still wedded to another woman. He once boasted to a Star reporter that he had married...

Cases of marriage fraud will become less common in China if the establishment of a national marriage database in 2012 has the effect top civil authorities want it to. The database, which was announced on Friday, will record the marital statuses of Chinese citizens who tied the knot in the past six decades. That information will be uploaded to the Internet next year, said Li Liguo, civil affairs minister. So far, 25 provinces and autonomous regions have set up their own online databases, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Chinese law forbids polygamy. Even so,...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The family from cable television's polygamous "Sister Wives" reality show has told a federal judge in Utah how much they've been hurt by the threat of prosecution under the state's bigamy law. Kody Brown and his wives wrote in new court papers that they've lost jobs, were forced to move to Nevada and suffered harm to their reputations after police launched an investigation last year after the fall 2010 launch of their TLC show. In July, Brown and wives Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robin, filed a lawsuit challenging Utah's bigamy law in Salt Lake City's...

While it has long been a cliche for men to complain that their wives and children take up most of their income, the reality for polygamous husbands is that the more babies he sires, the more money pours in for him and his wives. As Tariq Ali, the 45-year-old co-founder of Project BME (Black Minority Ethnics), a charity based in Darwen, Lancashire, admits: ‘There are thousands of bigamous and polygamous marriages in the UK’s Pakistani community — the same community into which I was born. 'Every single man of my age who I bump into seems to have a third,...

Warren Jeffs' Sexual Assault Trial Set To Start Monday By the CNN Wire Staff POSTED: Monday, July 25, 2011 UPDATED: 10:01 am EDT July 25, 2011 (CNN) -- Jury selection in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs will begin in Texas on Monday, nearly a week after his motion to remove a judge assigned to him was denied. Jeffs is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of bigamy stemming from a 2008 raid on a ranch operated by his church. Authorities raided the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado,...

By JENNIFER DOBNER Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY July 12, 2011 (AP) A polygamous family made famous by the reality TV show "Sister Wives" plans to challenge the Utah bigamy law that makes their lifestyle illegal, a Washington-based attorney said Tuesday. In an email to The Associated Press, attorney Jonathan Turley said he will file the lawsuit challenging Utah's bigamy law in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court on Wednesday. .............

After Mr Wichai (Tao), aged 24, from Samut Songkram province, who earns his living by dealing in old goods, got married to gorgeous twins Ms Sirintara and Ms Thipawan 22, he vouched his sincerest 'equal love' for both of them! Mr Wichai, just yesterday, got married in a grand ceremony to both twins simultaneously. On being interviewed by Thai Rath reporters, Mr Wichai declared wholeheartedly that he didn't see much problem in having to perform tiresome marital duties with two wives. In the engagement ceremony before the wedding dress gallery, Mr Wichai successfully offered a dowry of eight baht of...

A Utah polygamous family whose reality TV show launched a criminal bigamy investigation has moved out of state. In an e-mail to The Associated Press, the Washington-based attorney who represents the family, Jonathan Turley, said Kody Brown has moved his family of four wives and 16 kids to Nevada to pursue new opportunities. The family is featured on the TLC reality show "Sister Wives." The show first aired in the fall and triggered an investigation by Lehi police into allegations of bigamy. "There were no pending charges against them in Utah," Turley wrote. "I see no legal reason why their...

A 23-year-old Pakistani man plans to marry two women in 24 hours, gaining national attention for his novel solution to a dilemma over wedding the woman he loves or going ahead with the marriage his family arranged. Pakistani law allows polygamy based on the concept that Islam, the main religion in the country, allows up to four wives. But men who take multiple wives usually do so years apart and must also get approval from their first wife prior to a second marriage. Azhar Haidri initially refused to marry 28-year-old Humaira Qasim – the woman to whom he has been...

"SALT LAKE CITY – A bigamy investigation has been launched into a polygamous family starring in a reality television show, police said Tuesday.".....

Who are the Browns? Tune in for Sister Wives, premiering Sunday, Sept. 26, at 10 PM (ET/PT), and explore the complex daily life of a polygamist family. Meet husband Kody — along with his three wives: Meri, Janelle and Christine and their combined 13 children — and see how they attempt to navigate life as a "normal" family in a society that shuns their lifestyle. From their unconventional family structure and living arrangements to financial challenges, each half hour episode exposes the inner workings of a polygamist household, revealing the unexpectedly tight-knit and loving relationships between Kody's wives. Sister Wives...

POCATELLO (AP) - An Idaho state judge has sentenced a convicted bigamist to up to three years in prison and set a restitution hearing for late August. Christopher Cameron was sentenced Monday by 6th District Judge Robert Naftz, who gave him credit for the nine months he has spent in jail. Cameron pleaded guilty to felony bigamy in April. Tonya Gifford Kunz, a former Pocatello woman who was married to Cameron for five weeks before filing for an annulment in February 2009, told authorities that he lied to her about his income, assets, health and last name and left her...

Taking on a potentially explosive issue, the Law Commission has said that bigamy conflicts with ``true Islamic law in letter and spirit'' and added that the popular perception that Muslim law in India allowed men to take four wives was faulty. ``We fully agree with the fact that traditional understanding of Muslim law on bigamy is gravely faulty and conflicts with true Islamic law in letter and spirit,'' the commission said in its 227th report to the government, reflecting the unanimous view of chairman Justice A R Lakshmanan and members Tahir Mahmood and B A Agrawal. The panel, however, stopped...

A serial bigamist once described by a judge as a "predatory female" is facing jail after admitting marrying illegally for the fourth time.When Ashley Baker, 25, married Emily Horne in September 2007 he had no reason to suspect anything was amiss. It was only as the couple made their way to Scotland for their honeymoon that she confessed to already being married. In fact, Mr Baker discovered he was her fifth husband. It was her fourth bigamous union in just over a decade for Horne, who was jailed for six months for bigamy five years ago. The former glamour model,...

When his first wife changed the relationship status on her Myspace.com page from "married" to "divorced," Joshua Wilkinson thought he was free from the bonds of matrimony. After all, the father of five had purchased a do-it-yourself divorce kit from his mother for $250, and filled out all the paperwork. It wasn't until he married another woman that Wilkinson, 29, realized that he was still married to his first wife. That explains, he said, how he wound up being indicted on bigamy charges earlier this month by a Taylor County grand jury. Seems that when he and his first wife...

Cover    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Cover Only [PDF format, 11 kb] 1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Prostitution:    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - p72 [PDF format, 45 kb] 2. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Segregating Prisoners by Sex    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - p75 [PDF format, 30 kb] 3. Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Rights of Bigamists    Excerpt from "The Legal Status of Women under Federal Law" - Ruth Bader...

4,000 men in the United Kingdom are now polygamists, although some say the figure is higher. Muslim man can claim state support of more than £10,000 a year to keep his wives, if the wedding took place in one of those countries where polygamy is commonplace, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and across huge tracts of Africa. Therefore, if he has four wives he can claim nearly £800 a month from the British taxpayer. Controversially, a polygamist is also entitled to more generous housing benefits and bigger council houses to reflect the large size of his family. He...

ROTTERDAM, 12/08/08 - Although polygamy is banned in the Netherlands, the marriages of Muslims who have several wives are recognised by Dutch authorities. Registrars in the major cities, in particular, record dozens of bigamous or polygamous marriages per year. These marriages are prohibited and an offence in the Netherlands. However, polygamous marriages that take place in countries where more than one wife is permitted, such as Morocco, are accepted, newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports. If immigrants with several wives settle in the Netherlands, the local authorities register all the marriages. However, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), where all marriages are...

A new detail about the courtship of Michelle Obama: It took two years for Obama to finally propose. Though she knew he didn't fear commitment, Michelle had become a bit irritated with his struggle over whether marriage had become an outdated institution. Wow. And with this offhand comment, a thousand new excuses are born. "Honey, it's not that I fear commitment. It's that I'm struggling over whether marriage has become an outdated institution." I recall from that other Obama profile in the New Yorker, this one on Michelle: Barack had a more bohemian attitude toward romance. “We would have this...

Barack Obama's Struggle Over Whether Marriage Had Become 'An Outdated Institution'A new detail about the courtship of Michelle Obama: It took two years for Obama to finally propose. Though she knew he didn't fear commitment, Michelle had become a bit irritated with his struggle over whether marriage had become an outdated institution. Wow. And with this offhand comment, a thousand new excuses are born. "Honey, it's not that I fear commitment. It's that I'm struggling over whether marriage has become an outdated institution."I recall from that other Obama profile in the New Yorker, this one on Michelle: Barack had a...

Karl Hindle has been working tirelessly for five years and spent more than four hundred thousand dollars investigating his daughter’s illegal abduction to the U.S. What he has uncovered is deplorable. The paper trail shows the United States government is in the business of illegal baby snatching and harboring criminals.Emily would not have suffered the loss of her father for the last five years, or the vision in her right eye, if it weren’t for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA.) And people like Barbara Grieg of the U.S. State Department who see it as an excuse for misandry...

Jim Geraghty takes a look at longstanding blog buzz over Barack Obama’s birth certificate, which the campaign refused to release to the St. Petersburg Times in April: We tried to obtain a copy of Obama’s birth certificate, but his campaign would not release it and the state of Hawaii does not make such records public. Has anyone seen it? Why shouldn’t the record be in the public domain for presidential candidates? Geraghty walks through various rumors now circulating in the wake of the Obama campaign’s birth certificate blackout, including this one: Rumor Three: His mother did not want to name...

Bigamist caught out when he invited the same guest to BOTH his 'weddings' A bigamist was caught out when he invited the same guest to both his 'weddings' - and then had the bravado to arrive at court hand-in-hand with his first wife while he continues to live with his second wife, a court heard. Ageing truck driver Randolph 'Ranchie' Edge, 54, married his first wife Edna Winkle and then struck up a relationship with innocent Patience Carey, 21, who is more than 30 years younger than him. The bizarre chain of events only came to light when a wedding...

LONDON — The British government has cleared the way for husbands with multiple wives to claim welfare benefits for all their partners, fueling growing controversy over the role of Islamic Shariah law in the nation's cultural and legal framework. Bigamy is outlawed in Britain, but authorities have never prosecuted Muslim men who had legally married more than woman abroad and continued to live with them after immigrating. Shariah permits men to have up to four wives at one time. Now, after a review that began in November 2006, a panel of four government departments has decided that all the wives...

Husbands living in a "harem" with multiple wives have been cleared to claim state benefits for all their different partners. A Muslim man with four spouses - which is permitted under Islamic law - could receive £10,000 a year in income support alone. He could also be entitled to more generous housing and council tax benefit, to reflect the fact his household needs a bigger property. Ministers have decided that, even though bigamy is a crime in Britain, polygamous marriages can be recognised formally by the state - provided they took place overseas, in countries where they are legal. The...

The murder trial of Myra Morton should be a good chance to employ the "Oppressed Muslim Woman" defense. Apparently Myra Morton's husband was taking on a second wife, so Myra, the first wife, shot and killed him. I'm sure she did it because she was hurt, downtrodden, oppressed and miserable (in their million dollar home). I doubt the fact that she stood to get $6 million of her husband's assets if he should be the victim of an unfortunate, um, "accident" had anything to do with it. When the trial comes, get ready for the waterworks.... Also, notice that the...

(AP) A woman killed her longtime husband hours before he was to leave on a trip to Morocco to try to impregnate his new second wife, prosecutors said in filing murder charges Thursday. Myra Morton, 47, turned herself in Thursday to face murder charges in the death of Jereleigh Morton, also 47, who was shot in his bed early Sunday morning in his million dollar home outside Philadelphia. The killing happened just hours before Jereleigh Morton was to travel to Africa to try to conceive a baby with his second wife, whom he met on the Internet last year and...

'Bigamous' lesbian is sentenced Mitchell was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid community service A woman who entered into a civil partnership with her lesbian partner while she was still married has been ordered to carry out community service.Suzanne Mitchell, of Wingfield Gardens, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty to breaching the 2004 Civil Partnerships Act. The 30-year-old admitted making a false statement at her union with Caroline Beddows before her marriage to Charles Mitchell had been annulled. Suzanne Mitchell was also given a suspended prison sentence on Monday. Mitchell has since split with her female partner and has been reunited...

See for example this thread first. A $40,000 dollar ring Enough to make a girl's heart sing! 'Cept he was a cheat (his divorce, not complete) What a high price to pay for a fling!

Let's say you get married. Then let's say you get married again— and you do it before you get divorced. You're a bigamist. Is there some penalty for such bad behavior in divorce court, or will you each still get your full half of the community property? Amidst all the tedium of insurance cases and arguments over the finer points of jury instructions, the New Mexico Court of Appeals got to tackle these juicy questions recently when a divorce case involving a bigamist wife— she was married to two men at the same time— came up on appeal. And the...

MUSLIM men in Australia are trawling "marriage websites" looking for second wives in what Immigration officials say is a growing illegal trade. And Muslim leaders have warned that men who take second wives from overseas face jail or deportation. A Sunday Herald Sun investigation has found Muslim men are using the internet to attract second wives with promises of financial security. Immigration officials are investigating a growing number of second marriages and say anyone found to have committed bigamy will be prosecuted. "Muslims are required to follow the law of the land and since the law of Australia prohibits a...

(AgapePress) - It may only be in its beginning stages, but the "polyamorist movement" may be grabbing onto the coat tails of the increasingly effective homosexual movement. "Polyamorists" are individuals who maintain more than one emotional-sexual relationship simultaneously, believing that monogamy is unnatural. Relationships can be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. Paul Harris, a New York reporter for The Observer, a London, England, newspaper, writes in words that sound strangely similar to those used to describe the homosexual movement. He said "polyamorists are coming out of the closets across America. Several groups have sprung up. In New York, Polyamorous NYC holds...

Norway's Directorate of Immigration (UDI) reports that despite being illegal, there are an increasing number of men with multiple wives in Norway. The reason is married men travel to countries where polygamy is legal and then add a wife, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports. "This is something that Norwegian authorities cannot prevent," said UDI divisional director Karl Erik Sjøholt. In connection with new marriage laws, the UDI will also try to tighten rules to discourage bigamy or polygamy. Their suggestion is that married men who enter into a new marriage without first divorcing in Norway be permanently prevented from reuniting their...

--"I don't want to send the man to Hell, just to remove him from Earth," he said calmly. --"But it isn't your prerogative to decide whether the man should die," came the irritated reply. "God decides these things. Courts decide these things. Not individuals." --"Well, who then is the Court? The Court is a collection of individuals. God is an individual. You are contradicting yourself again." --"Don't play games with me - you know what I mean. You don't have the authority to put someone to death. The Court does." --"Oh, really? According to whom?" --"According to the law, you...

QUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | MEETUP | C-LOG | ISSUES townhall.comPrinter-friendly versionKilling Terri SchiavoThomas Sowell (back to web version) | Send March 24, 2005People who say that the government has no business interfering in a private decision like removing Terri Schiavo's feeding tube somehow have no problem with a squad of policemen preventing her parents (or anyone else) from giving their daughter food or water. Do those who want to keep the government out of private decisions think that the police are not the government? Do they think that the judges who authorized this are not the...

Four counts of bigamy against Thomas Green were as follows: Count II: BIGAMY, a third degree felony, in violation of 76-7-101, Utah code Annotated, 1953 as amended, in that Thomas Arthur Green, during the time period of May 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999, in Juab County, Utah, knowing that he had a wife, cohabited with another person, Shirley Beagley Green. Count III: BIGAMY, a third degree felony, in violation of 76-7-101, Utah code Annotated, 1953 as amended, in that Thomas Arthur Green, during the time period of May 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999, in Juab County, Utah, knowing...

Deseret Morning News, Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Polygamist officers face loss of badges By Nancy PerkinsDeseret Morning News ST. GEORGE — Colorado City town marshal Sam Roundy is facing the loss of his badge and job of 11 years if Utah takes away his right to patrol the plural community he lives in along the Utah/Arizona border. Colorado City, Ariz., Police Chief Sam Roundy and his officers also patrol nearby Hildale, Utah.Nancy Perkins, Deseret Morning News Administrative Law Judge Richard Wyss ruled that Roundy was in default because he failed to attend a Jan. 26 hearing that challenged his...

Before lawmakers in Florida allow Terri Schiavo, a mentally disabled woman who is fed through a tube, to be starved and dehydrated to death, they ought to take a careful look at the 2000 Census.  It explains why the Constitution compels them to keep fighting for Terri's life.  In 2003, a Florida judge decided Terri's estranged husband (who has two children by another woman) could disconnect her tube and kill her by starvation and dehydration. Gov. Jeb Bush persuaded Florida's legislature to enact a law allowing him to restore Terri's tube. But the law was narrowly cast: It applied only...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - State Sen. John Ford testified in a juvenile court hearing that he keeps two homes, living with two different women whose children he fathered. Ford's testimony was part of his defense in a child support case. The Memphis Democrat heads a Senate committee that guides the state's child welfare policies, and for the past year he's tried to make use of a law he authored that keeps court-ordered support lower when a father is financially responsible for other children. In a Juvenile Court hearing last year that is set for a follow-up hearing on Tuesday, Ford said...

Sen. Kennedy Says Opponents of “Gay Marriage” Are Bigots Sen. Edward Kennedy has told A.P. that opponents of “gay marriage” are bigots. The news service reported last week: “Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy criticized supporters of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, saying that would be a civil rights setback. “Kennedy said bigotry should not be written into the federal constitution, and constitutional amendments should be about expanding rights and liberties.” Unitarians Confirm Our Forecast that Group Sex Will be Next The Unitarian Church is now welcoming those who believe in group relationships including the practice of “romantic love.”...

It was eight wives, not nine, and Anthony Owens insists that he was never married to all of them at the same time. That's news to Gwinnett County police, who say the itinerant preacher and self-styled "bishop" was a Svengali-like con artist who wed nine women in 12 years without pausing to legally divorce most of them. Owens is in the Gwinnett County Jail awaiting trial on bigamy charges. But during a rambling jailhouse interview Monday, he painted himself as a man of faith whose psychological and spiritual confusion led him to wed and wed again. "People think that I just went around...

Hapless president stuck in the middle as two wives go to war By Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi (Filed: 14/01/2004) Kenya has become transfixed by a bedroom farce engulfing President Mwai Kibaki's family. The septuagenarian president has been revealed as having two wives, and the two women have been engaged in a very public spat. A New Year's Eve party attended by many dignitaries broke up in chaos after the First Lady became engaged in a shouting match with the vice-president. A few days later she forced her husband to sack his right-hand man. President Kibaki with his First Lady, Lucy...

Kind Of Weird The large amount of attention many newspapers and television anchors gave to a recent Supreme Court decision knocking down an old law against sodomy frankly startled me. What's the big deal? It was an old law that many states had already repealed and that no state was making any effort to enforce as long as homosexuals stayed in their bedrooms. In all my years on the cop beat, I never saw or heard of any law-enforcement agency arresting homosexuals, except when they took their sex to public parks and public restrooms. Cops and prosecutors have many more...

"Polygamy is the next civil-rights battle." That's the new battle cry of proponents of "Christian polygamy" who say their lifestyle is one step closer to being accepted after the Supreme Court's controversial decision last week invalidating state sodomy laws. A website set up for media to get information about the pro-polygamy movement enthusiastically hails the Lawrence v. Texas decision, quoting from the majority opinion that Americans now have "... the full right to engage in private conduct without government intervention." As WorldNetDaily reported, critics of the decision believe the court has usurped the role of lawmakers, establishing a far-reaching precedent...

A Craig area man authorities believe is a bigamist was charged last week with hiding evidence that would have bolstered their case against him as he awaited sentencing on a charge arising from one of his alleged marital relationships with two then-underage sisters. Thomas Sliwinski, 40, is being held at the Lewis and Clark County Jail on $25,000 bond and faces 10 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine if convicted of the charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. Sliwinski's sentencing on a charge of criminal endangerment — downgraded from sexual intercourse without consent as part of a...

To: Friends of Family Research Council From: Ken Connor, President Date: April 24, 2003 - Thursday The 'Santorum Shuffle' Call it the "Santorum Shuffle," the frantic two-step prominent Republicans are doing to avoid having to address the issues raised by Sen. Rick Santorum's comments on the Texas anti-sodomy law case. The prancing politicians are dancing all around the controversy. Few have offered any public support for Sen. Santorum or have come to the defense of marriage and family. Liberal Republican Senators Sue Collins of Maine and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have condemned Sen. Santorum's comments, but other GOP leaders...