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what exactly is illegal about polygamy?
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Anonymous
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Seeing the Sister Wives on NBC yesterday prompted me to think about their show....
What exactly is illegal in the U.S. - isn't it multiple marriages? As in, multiple documents marriages? What is illegal about a man living with many women and children, in which only one is his legal wife? Assuming no illegalities on tax returns, official school records, etc. |
Anonymous
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OP here.
Oops, meant to say, 'isn't it multiple marriages? As in, multiple documentED marriages?' |
Anonymous
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I have no idea.
No one is going after Hugh Hefner. |
Anonymous
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People are just so stuck in one way of thinking. It's black or white. Personally, if it makes those people happy and that is the lifestyle they choose to live...I see nothing wrong with it. I mean if the women are being treated like lesser humans, that is one thing, but if it's all one big family and they all get a say, so be it.
I think the people who can see beyond "marriage is between one man and one woman" are a bit more evolved. |
Anonymous
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I'm not a lawyer, but I think the problem is with marriage being considered a legal contract between two people -- so you can't then have the same contract with another person until you dissolve the contract with the first spouse.
So yes, the law would only recognize the first relationship with a marriage certificate, but I don't think there's anything illegal about having subsequent mistresses move in to the house with you. |
Anonymous
| I think that OP is getting at why law enforcement gets involved. I am not sure why it is not OK to have the main wife legally, then the subsequent ones in a wedding of sorts that is not recognized by the courts. |
Anonymous
They have been raided in the past, even if the polygamists did not try to get multiple mariage certificates. |
Anonymous
| They usually get raided for welfare fraud. The polygamous compouds in Utah and the west apply for welfare benefits for all the kids on the grounds that they have no source of male support (no marriage). |
Anonymous
| From a public policy perspective it is problematic. Firstly, it is often young girls being married off to much older men. Secondly, it leads to a lot of "excess" men that can find brides and are turfed out of the community lest they pose a threat to the lecherous old men... |
Anonymous
| I'm always telling my DH that we need a wife! As long as she cooks and cleans (actually I will be satisfied with just the cooking!) that we should go for it!!! |
Anonymous
why is that fraud? |
Anonymous
If you have polygamy, you will have excess men. So what is wrong with that? There are more women than men in society naturally. Also, more gay men means excess women out here. If the "girls" are 16 or older, it is legal. |
Anonymous
Not really. Both of these factors combined would only lead to about 3% more heterosexual women than men. In a society where men have two, three, or four wives that wouldn't get you far. |
Anonymous
But most people would not do polygamy, so we are talking about a small number. There are more womehn than men apart from the sexual orientation issue. |
Anonymous
It is fraud because the women will apply for benefits and claim that they don't know who the father is or where he is. She knows where he is, and he has an income. She is often living in the same household with him (and lots of other women) as one family, and his income (and the income of other family members), is required on welfare applications. Basically, the wives represent themselves as single mothers with dependent children. The other issue is that, even aside from the fraud, most polygamist men simply cannot support the multitude of wives and children without government benefits. These families can only exist due to government subsidy. Not sure if this is really different from all the other families that cannot exist without government benefits, though. |