UTAH POLYGAMIST FAMILY CELEBRATING DOMA RULING
Say Supreme Court ruling could help in plural-marriage cases
(Associated Press) Members of a Utah polygamist family lauded the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday to strike down a provision in the federal Defense of Marriage Act, saying it's a step toward changing perceptions of people like them as "second-class citizens."
Joe Darger, who wrote a book with his three wives entitled "Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage," said he and his family are celebrating the victory for gay marriage after the high court ruled that legally married same-sex couples should get the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that DOMA effectively made a subset of state-sanctioned marriages unequal.
Darger speculated the ruling could help other people in plural marriages, including the Brown family, which is suing to challenge a Utah law making bigamy a third-degree felony.
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