A bill that reduces the level of penalty for polygamists in Utah is advancing in the state legislature.
By a unanimous vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill 102 .
Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, (no relationship to Bill Henderson, star of the HBO series Big Love), said her bill is designed to free polygamists up to report abuses within the often isolated communities and end fear of outsiders. She said Utah’s longstanding anti-polygamy laws are not working.
“Far from eliminating the practice of plural marriage, these government actions merely isolated polygamous families, drove them underground, instilled fear and led to a culture of secrecy within their communities,”
-Utah Sen. Henderson
