Just curious, re a “Big Love” scenario with multiple women in a quasi-communal household with one husband, and one legal marriage to one of the women. Is there anything illegal with this scenario if they are all willing adults?
I’m not sure of all states. but I’m pretty sure this is legal in California. There are no laws against unrelated people living together, and no laws against fornication. Why the hell not?
Can’t imagine what would be illegal about it, unless someone decides that any children in the family are hurt by the arrangement.
I can’t see what would be illegal about living together under an “open relationship” lifestyle, where it is clear that, for instance, a man is living together with a wife and one or more girlfriends. However, if multiple people are held out to the public to be actual spouses, there may be a problem. In connection with an earlier thread on the Texas polygamists, I looked up the Texas law on Bigamy. Texas Penal Code section 25.01 on Bigamy (.pdf) provides:
Sec. 25.01. BIGAMY. (a) An individual commits an offense if:
(1) he is legally married and he:
(A) purports to marry or does marry a person other than his spouse in this state, or any other state or foreign country, under circumstances that would, but for the actor’s prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or
(B) lives with a person other than his spouse in this state under the appearance of being married; or
(2) he knows that a married person other than his spouse is married and he:
(A) purports to marry or does marry that person in this state, or any other state or foreign country, under circumstances that would, but for the person’s prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or
(B) lives with that person in this state under the appearance of being married.
(b) For purposes of this section, “under the appearance of being married” means holding out that the parties are married with cohabitation and an intent to be married by either party.
The main thing to consider here is that the offense is against someone who is married and “purports to marry” another person or who lives together under the appearance of being married. Thus, under Texas law, if a man with a wife holds a religious marriage ceremony with another woman and lives together with that woman as spouses, thee man and his second wife have committed bigamy. Further, in Texas, it may be bigamy if a married person merely lives with someone not his or her spouse “under the appearance of being married,” which would mean that they live together and hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife (not boyfriend & girlfriend, fiancees, etc.).
Going to New York, my home state, the bigamy law, Penal Law 255.15 provides: “A person is guilty of bigamy when he contracts or purports to contract a marriage with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.” This “purports to contract” language means that if a married person holds a civil or religious marriage ceremony (even if the ceremony is not authorized by law and even if there is no marriage license), the parties can be guilty of bigamy. Under New York law, merely living together and holding yourself out as spouses doesn’t run afoul of bigamy laws, but having some sort of marriage ceremony with multiple partners can cause problems.
Also, looking to Utah, where Big Love purports to take place, its bigamy law, Utah Code 76-7-101 provides:
76-7-101. Bigamy -- Defense.
(1) A person is guilty of bigamy when, knowing he has a husband or wife or knowing the other person has a husband or wife, the person purports to marry another person or cohabits with another person.
(2) Bigamy is a felony of the third degree.
(3) It shall be a defense to bigamy that the accused reasonably believed he and the other person were legally eligible to remarry.
Again, there is the “purports to marry” language, which means that people who went through marriage ceremonies with multiple spouses in a church that permits plural marriages would run afoul of this law even if those marriages were not legal or documented to the civil authorities. I suspect that there is case law interpreting the term “cohabits” to exclude people who merely live together and don’t hold themselves out as spouses, but I’m not sure what the details are.
We talked about some additional permutations here:
Does a common-law marriage ‘count’ twards a charge of bigamy?
and here:
When is Polygamy NOT Polygamy?
Is Big Love-style polygyny actually illegal?
Note that some states (mine included) do criminalize “adultery” and some criminalize “cohabitation.” These laws regulating private sexual acts between consenting adults are likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down the nation’s sodomy laws, but until a judge says so live with and/or have sex with someone other than your legal spouse at your own risk.
IANAL, etc.
It seems to me that these laws confuse bigamy with marriage fraud. If a person lies about whether or not he or she is married, does it matter how many spouses are involved?
Adultery laws are a harder case, IMO,
and see page not found
But cohabitation and fornication statutes are already getting invalidated: Anti-cohabitation law bites the dust