Privacy for the Plurally Married

Remember how the sophisticated set gasped in disgust when U.S. Senator Rick Santorum predicted that as soon as the Federal Courts recognized a constitutional right to engage in homosexual sodomy, claims for recognition of polygamy were not far behind?

Remember how Scalia thundered a similar prediction in Lawrence v. Texas? “State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of [a] validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today's decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding.... This [decision] effectively decrees the end of all morals legislation ...”

Well, now we have it....

The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission has recommended that Judge Walter Steed be removed from the local bench because he is a polygamist. Judge Steed, who serves in the border town of Hildale, is legally married to one woman but considers himself spiritually married to two others.

Relying upon the sweeping language of Lawrence v. Texas, Judge Steed contends that the law allowing prosecutors to pursue people who are “plurally married,” is unconstitutional.

So, as Santorum and Scalia forecasted, the pluralism ushered in by Lawrence v. Texas is two or three wives.