Polygamous judge wants to keep his post

wanderingone

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Norseman said:
It didn't allude to being physically, mentally or emotionally capable. All it said was that you must be capable. He wasn't.

I've edited.. after looking up the Utah law.. there is a provision regarding legally able to comply with marriage statutes in order to be considered common law married..
 
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Ache For Heaven

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I would not want to be the justices to decide this.

I do not believe in marrying more than one woman, But this is the mans religious beliefs.
I know all of us feel he is breaking the law.

Think of it this way. What if they decided to make it against the law for christians to attend church.
Most of us would be going to underground churches and breaking the law, correct?
I think men like him are not these sex crazed men that want a harem. These people are raised since they are young that this is acceptable according to their religious beliefs. I honestly do not think they can convict him. Because only one wife is registered with the state as being his wife. As far as he is concerned he is married to the other two. But, you can also say that they are two women willingly co-habitating and sharing marriage privilages with a married couple. If all parties are willing, and 2 of his marriages are not recognized by the state I am not sure anything can be done.

Just some thoughts.
 
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MethodMan

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Ache For Heaven said:
I would not want to be the justices to decide this.

I do not believe in marrying more than one woman, But this is the mans religious beliefs.
I know all of us feel he is breaking the law.

Think of it this way. What if they decided to make it against the law for christians to attend church.
Most of us would be going to underground churches and breaking the law, correct?

What if we had a religion that called for the sacrifice of a virgin once a year? Would you have our law allow this?


This guy is a judge. Judges are to interpret law, not break it.
 
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Sabina41

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MethodMan said:
This guy is a judge. Judges are to interpret law, not break it.

I think that's the question that he was getting at, though, moreso than the church comparison. He married the first wife legally and then married the other two through the church only. If the state automatically verifies marriages that the church verifies, then yes he probably was breaking the law. If you still have to go through a separate process for the state to recognize your marriage and fill out paperwork, etc. and he didn't do that because he just went through the church...then he might not be. I would imagine that that is going to be the defense attorney's argument.

Whether or not he should be removed is also a difficult matter. Certainly I feel that someone that breaks the law (again, I'm not sure he did technically) should not be handing down judgement to other lawbreakers. However, unless there is a clause in the rules there that say you cannot be a judge if you are tried and/or convicted of a felony I don't know if they can remove him. There would have to be something there that said that judges cannot have a criminal record.

It's a really difficult balance to strike between ensuring fair and just rulings and the right to privacy. Depends on the actual laws there and the way things are recognized...

-Ashley
 
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Ache For Heaven

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MethodMan said:
What if we had a religion that called for the sacrifice of a virgin once a year? Would you have our law allow this?


This guy is a judge. Judges are to interpret law, not break it.

Good point, but I think there is a big difference between murdering someone in cold blood and marrying more than one woman, Especially if the women are all marrying you of their own free will.
 
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MethodMan

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Ache For Heaven said:
Good point, but I think there is a big difference between murdering someone in cold blood and marrying more than one woman, Especially if the women are all marrying you of their own free will.


So you can't base it in religion then? That was the point.
 
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Ache For Heaven

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MethodMan said:
So you can't base it in religion then? That was the point.

I didn't say the man should not be removed.

My point is, they may have a hard time removing him if they cannot get a conviction. He would need to be convicted of a crime to be removed wouldn't he?
The state obviously does not recognize the other two marriages. So how can they convict him if according to the state his other marriages never took place?
 
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MethodMan

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Ache For Heaven said:
I didn't say the man should not be removed.

My point is, they may have a hard time removing him if they cannot get a conviction. He would need to be convicted of a crime to be removed wouldn't he?

Lawyers! Judges are held to a higher standard by each other.

Judge Walter Steed was found to be a polygamist by the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, and the panel issued an order seeking his removal from the bench in February.

The state obviously does not recognize the other two marriages. So how can they convict him if according to the state his other marriages never took place?

I don't believe they have even tried.
 
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Ache For Heaven

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Thats another question that can be raised in another thread. Is it a sin to have more than one wife?

There are many men in the old Testament that had more than one wife and you do not hear any rebukes from God for this.

King David had many wives, but never was never rebuked until he stole another mans wife?

Just one of those difficult questions that have come to mind.

But, the fact of the matter is,this guy is willfully breaking the law and should be removed.
 
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belladonic-haze

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CHARLES H said:
who will stand up for this change. who wants more than one wife? don't get me wrong the obvious would be great,but the nagging............one wife is enough for me.


ROFL!!!!

Well, three hubs sounds cool, one to earn the money, one to take out the carbage and one to.......:p ....

Although ...:scratch: three men????:eek: That would be killing. My hubs has two brothers...ahem.....NO WAY!!!! These are both tooooooo old fashioned and dominant....:sick:

;)
 
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MidnightBlue

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MethodMan said:
Lawyers! Judges are held to a higher standard by each other.

Judge Walter Steed was found to be a polygamist by the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, and the panel issued an order seeking his removal from the bench in February.
Generally speaking, polygamous fundamentalists are among the very last sorts of people I'd like to see on the judge's bench. But I believe the commission's finding is in error. The state has no authority to regulate any kind of marriage other than civil marriage, and it's pretty clear the judge has exactly one civil marriage and has not attempted to have more than one. We don't generally make a practice of disciplining public officials because of the number of their intimate relationships or the way they think about those relationships, and if we plan to start now, there are going to be a lot of very uncomfortable officials.

There's no doubt this man is being discriminated against because of his religion. His religion is backwards, wrongheaded and offensive, but we don't really want to open that can of worms, do we?
 
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