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Because state laws exist, polygamy is not actively prosecuted at the federal level. [3] Many US courts (e.g. Turner v. S., 212 Miss. 590, 55 So.2d 228) treat bigamy as a strict liability crime: in some jurisdictions, a person can be convicted of a felony even if he reasonably believed he had only one legal spouse. For example, if a person has ...
Polygamy was outlawed in federal territories by the Edmunds Act, and there are laws against the practice in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, [19] and Puerto Rico. [20] Because state laws exist, polygamy is not actively prosecuted at the federal level, [21] but the practice is considered "against public policy".
The legal status of polygamy varies widely around the world. Polygamy is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states, the vast majority of them being Muslim-majority countries. Some countries that permit polygamy have restrictions, such as requiring the first wife to give her consent.
2012 – North Carolina amends its state constitution by a vote to outlaw both same-sex marriage and polygamy, bringing the total to 30 states that have outlawed both same-sex marriage and polygamy through their state constitutions. Rhode Island starts recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, but does not grant such ...
Chatwin v. United States, 326 U.S. 455 (1946) — underaged polygamous marriage with consent not prosecutable under the Federal Kidnapping Act; Cleveland v. United States, 329 U.S. 14 (1946) — polygamous marriage an "immoral purpose" under the Mann Act; Musser v. Utah, 333 U.S. 95 (1948) — polygamy not religious free speech
A Peruvian high court has ordered same-sex unions to be legally registered in public records, marking a victory for the LGBTQ community in a country that has been reluctant to recognize gay couples.
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[note 1] In many countries, the law only recognises monogamous marriages (a person can only have one spouse, and bigamy is illegal), but adultery is not illegal, leading to a situation of de facto polygamy being allowed without legal recognition for non-official "spouses". Worldwide, different societies variously encourage, accept or outlaw ...