Edmunds Act

The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882,[1] is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by president Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony. The act is named for U.S. Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. The Edmunds Act also prohibited "bigamous" or "unlawful cohabitation" (a misdemeanor),[2] thus removing the need to prove that actual marriages had occurred.[1] It was passed in a wave of Victorian-era reaction to the perceived immorality of polygamy,[3] or at least polygyny, which was often compared to slavery.[1]

The act not only reinforced the 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act but also revoked polygamists' right to vote, made them ineligible for jury service, and prohibited them from holding political office.

A claim was made that the law violated the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws; that is, polygamists were charged for polygamist marriages solemnized before passage of the statute. A challenge to the statute was framed on these and other grounds. The Supreme Court ruled, in Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15 (1885), that the statute was not ex post facto because convicts were charged for their continued cohabitation, not for the prior illegal marriage.[4] Some modern scholars suggest the law may be unconstitutional for being in violation of the Free Exercise Clause.[5]

The Edmunds Act restrictions were enforced regardless of whether an individual was actually practicing polygamy, or merely stated a belief in the Mormon doctrine of plural marriage without actually participating in it.

All elected offices in the Utah Territory were vacated, an election board was formed to issue certificates to those who both denied a belief in polygamy and did not practice it, and new elections were held territory-wide.

Enforcement of the acts start in July of 1887. The issue went to the Supreme Court in the case Late Corp. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States that upheld the Edmunds–Tucker Act on May 19, 1890. Among other things, the act disincorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Within five months, the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of plural marriage with the 1890 Manifesto. On October 25, 1893, a congressional resolution authorized the release of assets seized from the LDS Church because, "said church has discontinued the practice of polygamy and no longer encourages or gives countenance to any manner of practices in violation of law, or contrary to good morals or public policy."[6]

Convictions

Portrait of polygamists in prison, at the Utah Penitentiary, including George Q. Cannon in 1889, arrested under the Edmunds Act.

More than 1,300 men were imprisoned under the terms of the Edmunds Act.[1] It appears that women were not prosecuted, being seen as victims of the practice and not willing participants, although a number refused to testify against their husbands and some were jailed for their refusal.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 U.S.History.com, Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882.
  2. 1 2 About Mormons, Anti-Polygamy Legislation. Accessed 2008.03.26.
  3. ↑ See, for example, the language quoted in Davis v. Beason ("pernicious to the best interests of society", "actions regarded by general consent as properly the subjects of punitive legislation").
  4. ↑ See also "The Anti-Polygamy Law; Its Constitutionality Upheld by the Supreme Court", The New York Times, March 24, 1885, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Vazquez, Richard A. (Fall 2001), "The Practice of Polygamy: Legitimate Free Exercise of Religion or Legitimate Public Menace? Revising Reynolds in Light of Modern Constitutional Jurisprudence" (PDF), New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy (New York University School of Law) 5 (1): 225–253, retrieved 2014-02-24
  6. ↑ Jt. Res 11., 53d Cong., 1st Sess., 28 Stat. 980
  7. ↑ "The Anti-Polygamy Law; Ex-Delegate Cannon's Sentence Affirmed. The Supreme Court Upholds the Decisions of the Territorial Judges; Opinions in Other Cases", New York Times, 1885-12-15.
  8. 1 2 3 116 U.S. 55 (1885).
  9. 1 2 "Mormon Bishop Sharp.; He Tells About His Plural Marriages, Pleads Guilty, and is Fined", New York Times, 1885-09-25, p. 5.
  10. ↑ J. Max Anderson (1979). The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact (Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press) ch. 2.
  11. ↑ "A Mormon Bishop Deposed", New York Times, 1886-09-05, p. 6.
  12. ↑ 120 U.S. 274 (1887)
  13. ↑ Cannon, Joseph A.; Fish, Rick (1994), "Cannon, George Q.", in Powell, Allan Kent, Utah History Encyclopedia, Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, ISBN 0874804256, OCLC 30473917
  14. ↑ Salt Lake Daily Tribune, 1899-09-09.
  15. ↑ Deseret Evening News, November 23, 1906; Salt Lake Tribune, November 24, 1906.

Further reading

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