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Facebook Wedding Photos Result In Polygamy Arrest In Michigan

Posted by timothy on from the polygamy-is-fine-unless-you're-married dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Police in Michigan have arrested 34-year-old Richard Leon Barton Jr. on charges of polygamy, thanks to incriminating wedding photos on Facebook. The man unfriended his first wife on the social network before marrying his second wife, but unsurprisingly that wasn't enough."

8 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. I don't get it by Nialin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It makes no sense to me that something like polygamy is an arrestable offense. Aside from the mediocre tax breaks you get from marriage, what are the benefits that you can glean from multiple marriages that would cause it to be inherently illegal?

    1. Re:I don't get it by LordLucless · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, concubinage isn't really that different from marriage. The difference was just that concubines, unlike wives, didn't bring a dowry into the relationship. Most societies that permitted multiple concubines also permitted multiple wives. It was just easier to attract multiple concubines, as they were generally poorer women who lacked the options available to dowered girls.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    2. Re:I don't get it by stor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Reminds me of an old joke:

      Q: What's the punishment for polygamy?

      A: Multiple wives.

      -Stor

      --
      "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
    3. Re:I don't get it by cpu6502 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Violating a contract is a CIVIL matter, not a criminal one.

      Banning polygamy (or same sex marriage) is yet another example, like outlawing smoking marijuana while at home, or blocking teens from drinking with parents' permission, where the State is acting like the Church to enforce their moral values, instead of allowing individuals the Liberty to "pursue happiness" in whatever manner they choose.

      --
      My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
  2. Why is that a crime? by grumbel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ok, why exactly is that a crime in the first place? Has that something to do with tax evasion or whatever or is that just moral code enforced by law?

    1. Re:Why is that a crime? by rust627 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It is a crime by law in most western countries and carries it own unique penalty as summed up by Groucho Marx.

      "Do you know what the ultimate penalty for Bigamy is ?

      2 mothers in law......"

      --
      da da da dum indeed.
  3. Re:illegal why? by muuh-gnu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > In general, societies enforced monogamy because otherwise men would marry a whole bunch of women

    and leave back an army of unmarried angry young man. As to my knowledge the ban of polygamy was primarily to prevent a few wealthy old men marrying dozens of young women off the market and leaving hordes of young men without a way to reproduce, leading to explosive social unrest. The Bible had nothing to do with it, the Old Testament, on which the model of the Mormon practices and scriptures was based, was highly polygamous itself.

  4. Never tired of FB stories by UBfusion · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Contrary to some comments here, I am all about learning new FB horror stories. These stories provide me useful real-life evidence that I use when advising my friends (and my students) why they shouldn't ever post things that might get used against them. Think 10 times before hitting 'submit'.