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Court Says Father Can Talk With Children About His Belief In Plural Marriage

By Howard M. Friedman

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Saturday that a Utah state trial court judge has changed the terms of a custody order to eliminate the restriction formerly placed on Joseph Compton that barred him from talking to his eight children about his belief in plural marriage and barred him from taking them to the 800-member community where Compton lives which is comprise mostly of members of the Apostolic United Brethren (the Allred Group). Kathleen Compton filed for divorce when Joseph refused to stop seeing a woman he wanted to become his second wife. (Joseph has not though entered into a polygamous relationship with the woman.) Kathleen is afraid that her children might join the Allred Group or marry someone from that community and become polygamists.  The judge wrote, however:

The court received no evidence that any of the petitioner?s children, adult or minor, have suffered real harm or will suffer substantiated potential harm as a result of his belief in the practice, even though the practice is criminal.... To restrict parent time based on illegal conduct may be appropriate, but the illegality [of polygamy] on its own is not sufficient to warrant restriction.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on December 20, 2010 (boomark / email).