Sister Wives: Utah Decriminalizes Polygamy

The Browns of TLC’s popular show Sister Wives have always been afraid to return to their hometown of Lehi, Utah.

The only reason for this fear was Utah’s strict laws against polygamy. As a result, they always felt like “felons” and had to flee the area after they went public on the TV show in 2010. Years later, plural marriage was finally decriminalised in the state. Kody Brown, his four wives and eighteen children can finally live in peace.

Sister Wives: Utah Decriminalizes Polygamy

The upcoming episode of Sister Wives is all about the happy days of the Brown family. A new People exclusive reveals they are celebrating the decriminalisation of polygamy in their hometown.

The preview begins with Robyn Brown excited to share some news with her children. However, in her interview, Kody adds that she had actually been hoping to pass this news on to her children for over a decade. Fortunately, their burden has come quite a bit sooner than they expected.

With a gleam in her eye, Robyn tells her children that Utah’s new law will make plural marriage and marriage a violation. So that violation now equals a traffic ticket. Well, not quite, but it certainly basically and essentially decriminalizes polygamy.

According to CNN, bigamy used to be a third-degree felony and was legally punishable by a five-year prison sentence with a $5,000 fine. In 2010, the Browns appeared on TLC and revealed their plural marriage.

However, this prompted the State of Utah to launch a criminal investigation. Therefore, Kody Brown and his sister wives had to hastily leave their hometown and move to Las Vegas. The Browns later settled in Flagstaff, Arizona, where they now have four separate houses for each bride.

Janelle Brown was seemingly happy with the new law. In her confession of faith, another woman talks about how her family are no longer “Felons” because they are living their faith. She explains how the polygamy became illegal in the state. She says that in 1847, Mormon pioneers came to Salt Lake.

For fifty years they practiced polygamy and it became part of the religion. The mother of six expresses that it was just a thing that was done and not strange at the time. But 40 years later, around 1890, the Mormons decided they wanted to try statehood. So they had to ban polygamy, which is why the practice has been illegal all this time. As a result, for about 150 years, people like the Brown family have been criminals.

On the other hand, Meri is also previewed in the video talking about the issue. The first woman believes that polygamy is a basic human and civil right. In fact, she even adds that her split husband Kody, who shares a bedroom with another adult woman, doesn’t hurt anyone.

Well, the patriarch of Sister Wives also thinks the new law will ultimately benefit the entire pluralistic community. It will bring freedom to plural families and help them to open up. From now on, brown people can finally enjoy their time back in their own hometown.