Reality TV Stars Taking Their Case To The Supreme Court

(L-R) Robyn Brown, Meri Brown, Kody Brown, Christine Brown, and Janelle Brown from ‘Sister Wives.’ (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Fans of terrible TV (guilty as charged) know the Brown family, but those of you with self respect may not be as familiar. They’re the polygamous stars of Sister Wives. Kody is the husband and he is legally married to wife Robyn, but considers himself “spiritually married” to Meri, Janelle, and Christine as well.

The first season of the show documented the Brown family’s move from Utah to the more-accepting Las Vegas, under the cover of dark. The family left because polygamy is outlawed in Utah, and they feared prosecution after publicly “coming out” with their unusual family structure.

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They’ve taken their fight for acceptance to court, hoping the courts will strike down Utah’s law as unconstitutional. Their battle has had ups and downs, and this week they’ve filed a petition with the Supreme Court to hear the case, as reported by Yahoo News:

The ruling overturned a previous legal victory for the Browns in which a lower court ruled the law violated polygamists’ right to privacy and religious freedom.

The appeals court decided in April that the Browns can’t sue because they weren’t charged under the Utah law. It didn’t consider the constitutional issues.
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Utah prosecutors say they generally leave polygamists alone but need the ban to pursue polygamists for other crimes such as underage marriage and sexual assault.

The Browns took the case to the nation’s highest court after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request to reconsider it.

Though the odds are not in their favor — the Court hears only a tiny percentage of cases that are appealed to them — the family’s attorney says their fight will continue:

The family’s attorney, Jonathan Turley, said in a statement the appeals court ruling curtailed the right for plural families to be heard in federal court.

“This has been an extended and difficult struggle for the Brown family but they have never wavered in their commitment to defending the important principles of religious freedom in this case,” Turley said. “Utah is a state that was founded by courageous citizens seeking these very protections from government abuse and religious inequality. This lawsuit is true to the original dream of those seeking freedom in Utah.”