SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Latest on the Supreme Court’s decision against hearing an appeal from the family on TV’s “Sister Wives” challenging Utah’s law banning polygamy (all times local):
10:35 a.m.
An attorney for a TV’s “Sister Wives” family says the U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear an appeal of Utah’s law banning polygamy won’t end the larger fight by plural and unconventional families for equal status.
Lawyer Jonathan Turley said Monday in a statement posted on his blog that he and the Brown family are disappointed but not surprised by the decision that was issued by the high court without comment.
Turley emphasized that an appeals court ruling that stands wasn’t made based on the merits of the Browns’ assertion that Utah’s law violates their rights of speech and religion. That court found Kody Brown and his four wives can’t sue over the law because they weren’t charged under it.
The family says it wanted to challenge the law because the threat of prosecution still looms over them.
Utah’s law forbids married people from living with a second purported “spouse,” making it stricter than anti-bigamy laws in other states.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office declined comment.
The high court is on a pace to hear less than 1 percent of the 7,500 appeals it is likely to receive this term.
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7:40 a.m.
The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from the family on TV’s “Sister Wives” challenging Utah’s law banning polygamy.
The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that said Kody Brown and his four wives can’t sue over the law because they weren’t charged under it.
A federal judge sided with the Browns and overturned key parts of the state’s bigamy law in 2013, but an appeals court overturned that decision last year.
The Browns claim the law infringes on their right to freedom of speech and religion. The family wanted to challenge the law even though they’ve never faced criminal charges because they say the threat of prosecution still looms over them.
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