SPECIAL REPORT
Chief Court Reporter, Renn OldsbusterNovember 9, 2011
Famed doctor, Conrad Murray, has escaped prosecution and conviction for his crime of polygamy. Murray, who was found guilty yesterday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of king-of-pop, Michael Jackson, has evaded incarceration for his polygamous lifestyle. Unlike Utah, where polygamy is considered an aggravation - an "enhancement" to other crimes (committed by Fundamentalist Mormons), California has chosen to turn a blind eye to what, in this case, was probably a more serious violation of the law ( - - see Murray below, along with three of his wives in happier times).
Dr. Murray allegedly had children from a number of these plural wives, but it is not clear whether the women in this polygamous family have gotten along smoothly.
This complete disregard of the blatant crime of felony bigamy is part of a disturbing trend in recent years in America. Hugh Hefner, perhaps America's most notorious polygamist, has never been charged. Tiger Woods' polygamy was utterly ignored by Florida's Attorney General. Charlie Sheen, an inveterate and flagrant polygamist, has evaded prosecution for years. Warren Jeffs, a virtually unknown polygamist from Utah, has not been convicted of religious bigamy, even though he is reputed to have taken over four thousand wives (mostly between the ages of 4 and 12).
Of special note recently, the Kody Brown family of Lehi, Utah; and Las Vegas, Nevada, has flaunted its egregious polygamy in nationally-broadcast, videotaped confessions. He has 17 children and four wives, and Utah's Attorney General, Mork Shortlift, has adamantly refused to enforce the law he has spent his entire career aggressively defending.
All fifty states have some sort of anti-bigamy statute, although it appears that all of them have lost the stomach for putting America's millions of casual and religious bigamists in prison.
This legal ambivalence is not confined solely to the prosecution of the crime of religious polygamy. In recent months, monogamous President Balack Obama has instructed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division to stop deporting illegal aliens and has directed the Justice Department to sue the states of Arizona and Alabama for attempting to enforce immigration laws.
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