Reynolds Vs U.S.
Reynolds vs us is an 1878 court case in which George Reynolds was arrested for committing polygamy. In this court case it was also mentioned that religious duties are not excuses to commit a crime based on.
This case caused Mormonism practice to be limited and it still does today, Because there is an anti-polygamy law called "Edmunds-Tucker Act." Based on this law, no person in the United states is allowed to marry another woman, while they are legally married to another one . This law was established before the court case.
Reynolds mentioned that his "first amendment" rights are being denied. He explained that based on the first amendment a person is allowed to practice their religion freely, with no penalties. He also then said that he will be damned if he do not do what his religion asks him to do and have multiple wives. If we take a look at first amendment, we can also see that it mentioned that people have the right to practice their religion freely.
Reynolds was finally known as guilty in the Supreme Court, by Chief Justice "Morrison Waite." In defense the Supreme Court mentioned that congress can not outlaw beliefs, but they can outlaw practices therefore there is no denial of first amendment in this case!
from that moment after, by the law, anti-polygamy causes up to $500 of penalty and no more than 5 years of prison.
from that moment after, by the law, anti-polygamy causes up to $500 of penalty and no more than 5 years of prison.
Obviously after the anti-polygamy law was passed, it still exists and even today it will cause you to pay the penalties and also go to jail for it. In the future however, the levels of understanding will improve and there will be a lot of new ideas and solutions to this problem, and In my opinion the first amendment defends the right to commit polygamy but the court explains it in its own way, and also by the future there will be some new clause and amendments based on this case, that will amend the way polygamy should be and how is it legal if it is suppose to be.
Reynolds v United States