Miscellaneous

I Kind of Feel Like the Polygamists Have a Point

Up in Canada, where far fewer Americans are making plans to relocate thanks to Obama, an interesting legal question has arisen. See, up in Canada, those liberal minded heathens have legalized gay marriage and, thus, modified the definition of marriage. And hell: Since they've modified the whole between one man and one woman part, what's stopping them from changing the one woman part?

Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, are each accused of being married to more than one woman at a time. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal said.

But Blackmore's lawyer, Blair Suffredine, said during a telephone interview that marriage standards in Canada have changed.

"If (homosexuals) can marry, what is the reason that public policy says one person can't marry more than one person?" said Suffredine, a former provincial lawmaker. Canada's Parliament extended full marriage rights to same-sex couples in 2005.

It's not an unreasonable argument, is it? And what the hell is wrong with multiple wives, anyway? As long as they're not underage and there is no coercion, what harm are polygamist causing the greater world? Other than, you know, limiting the odds for the rest of the men.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on January 22, 2009 (boomark / email).