In Georgia, as in most other states, a person can only be married to one person at a time. In order for a marriage to be valid in Georgia both spouses must "have no living spouse of a previous undissolved marriage." O.C.G.A. § 19-3-2. In Georgia, "[a] person commits the offense of bigamy when he, being married and knowing that his lawful spouse is living, marries another person or carries on a bigamous cohabitation with another person." O.C.G.A. § 16-6-20(a). A convicted bigamist in Georgia "shall shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years." O.C.G.A. § 16-6-20(c). Even a person who knowingly marries a bigamist can be imprisoned if convicted. O.C.G.A. § 16-6-21. While these laws may not impact many people in our state, there are much more of an issue in other states, such as Utah.
The Brown family (one husband with four wives) from the reality TV show "Sister Wives" is currently appealing a decision that upheld Utah's law banning bigamy. 'Sister Wives' ask court to reconsider polygamy ruling, www.reviewjournal.com, April 26, 2016. The family is arguing that the ban "violates their constitutional rights and wrongly makes families like theirs into criminals." According to the article, they have fled Utah and are now living in Nevada because they are worried they will be prosecuted. The reason the ban was upheld, according to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is that the Browns have no standing to challenge it, having never faced criminal charges under the law. The Utah attorney general has said he will leave polygamists alone so long as they don't break other laws, but wants to keep the law on the books so he can "go after polygamists like Warren Jeffs, who is in prison for sexually assaulting girls he considered wives."
Though the Utah Attorney General has pledged to look the other way, this is not good enough for the Browns who consider their family to be as loving and healthy as a monogamous one. However, unless they return to Utah and are ultimately prosecuted under the polygamy ban, they likely will have no standing to challenge it. At the same time, it appears unlikely that they will ultimately be prosecuted under the ban unless they break the law in some other way.