The Constitutional Implications of Lawrence v. Texas on the Texas Bigamy Statute
By: Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
The State of Texas will probably experience of series of bigamy trials stemming from the mass arrests made in the “infamous FLDS case” last year. The John T. Floyd Law Firm has been asked on a number of cases if there is a legitimate constitutional challenge to the Texas bigamy statute. See: Tex. Penal Code, § 25.01.
This answer to this question must necessarily begin with an analysis of a 2006 decision by the Utah Supreme Court, which rejected a litany of constitutional challenges to that state’s bigamy statute, and compared to the Texas statute. See: Utah v. Holm, 137 P.3d 726 (UT 2006), cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 1371, 167 L.Ed.2d 159 (2007).
Rodney Hans Holm was convicted in Utah for bigamy and unlawful sexual conduct of a minor. He was legally married to Suzie Stubbs in 1986. As a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), he participated in a “religious marriage ceremony” with Wendy Holm. At age thirty-two, Holm participated in yet another “religious marriage ceremony” with the sister of Suzie Stubbs, sixteen-year-old Ruth Stubbs. Ruth moved into Holm’s house where Suzie, Wendy, and their children already resided. By the time Ruth turned eighteen, she had conceived two children with Holm. Id., at 730.
Holm was arrested, charged with three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and charged with one count of bigamy. The jury returned a guilty verdict on each of the charges, and Holm was sentenced to five years on each conviction, with the sentences to be served concurrently, and fined $3,000.00. The sentences and fine were suspended conditioned on three years probation, one year in the county jail with work release, and two hundred hours of community service. Id., at 731-32. (more…)
