Court quashes polygamy charges

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Professur

Professur

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Winston Blackmore, the religious leader of the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C. shares a laugh with six of his daughters and some of his grandchildren, April 21, 2008. A British Columbia court decision has quashed polygamy charges against controversial religious leaders Blackmore and James Oler. (CP/Jonathan Hayward)

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Two controversial B.C. religious leaders who were set to challenge Canada's laws against polygamy won't soon get the chance now that a judge has quashed the charges against them.

Winston Blackmore and James Oler were arrested earlier this year in Bountiful, B.C., and charged with one count each of polygamy.

The men had petitioned the court to stay the charges, arguing that the B.C. attorney general had gone "special prosecutor shopping" until he found someone who would go ahead with charges.

In a decision released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein agreed.

The judge said the province's attorney general did not have the jurisdiction to appoint a second special prosecutor to consider charges against Blackmore and Oler after the first special prosecutor recommended against charging the two men.

"The harm in the appointment of successive special prosecutors is that it undermines the administration of justice by leaving the perception, if not the reality, of political interference and of oppressive or unfair prosecution," the judge wrote.


"The Attorney General upset the critical balance that. . . should be kept between political independence and accountability."

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said Wednesday he found the court ruling disappointing, but will not give up on the government's goal of resolving the issue of polygamy in British Columbia.

Campbell said the government will review the court ruling and may appeal.

"I was surprised and disappointed when I heard the ruling," he said. "The attorney general is going to review it and we'll see what our next step should be."

Several legal experts consulted by the province, including a special prosecutor appointed two years ago, suggested the issue should be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada to determine the constitutionality of the law before any charges were laid.

But then-attorney general Oppal appointed another special prosecutor, Terry Robertson, last year, and Robertson ultimately recommended charges.

But Blackmore's lawyer, Joe Arvay, said the province should drop its attempts to prosecute British Columbians on polygamy charges.

"They can just forget about it and let Mr. Blackmore and his folk live their lives and practise their religion and leave them alone. That would be the right thing," said Arvay.

He said there is a strong likelihood that Canada's laws against polygamy would be found unconstitutional when put up against religious freedom rights.

But Nancy Mereska, who has been fighting polygamists in Canada for years through her Alberta website Stop Polygamy in Canada, urged the B.C. government to continue its attempt to prosecute Blackmore.

"I really want to see this ruling appealed and the prosecution of the charge of polygamy to go forward," she said.

Campbell said the government remains concerned about tackling polygamy in British Columbia.

"It's important to solve the issue, yes," he said. "The question is how do you solve it."

Stromberg-Stein said she found that the appointment of the second special prosecutor - and therefore the decision to charge the men - was "unlawful."

The attorney general had no jurisdiction to appoint a second special prosecutor after the first one recommended against charges, the judge concluded.

Blackmore and Oler are leaders of two separate factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon Church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago. Blackmore was accused of having 19 wives, and Oler three.

The RCMP have launched numerous investigations into Bountiful since 1990, but prosecutors have repeatedly shied away from laying charges, concerned the polygamy laws wouldn't survive a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Blackmore is reported to have more than 100 children.

There are reports of women from Bountiful being married to men from polygamous communities in the United States.

Bruce Elwood, who represented Blackmore and Oler at the hearing, said the judge quashed the appointment of the special prosecutor, which quashes the charges.

It's not the same as throwing out the charges, he said, but he added he's not sure how the charges could be resurrected.

"I believe this will be the end of the criminal case but what the judge has actually done is to quash the appointment of the special prosecutor," he said.

The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch will have to decide what they will do now, he said.
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OK, someone check my facts for me. Adultery is legal .. that's a breach of a civil contract. Marrying someone of the same sex is legal. But being in a consensual relationship with more than one person isn't.
 
Adultery isn't breach of contract - it isn't even a crime. Sexual fidelity isn't in the marriage contract that you, your wife and the witnesses signed. The Contract is about property, children and the separation thereof should the marriage fall apart. You're thinking of your vows, Prof.
 
Yeah well it seems dumb to me, that if one man wants to marry 10 women, has the finances to support it, and all 10 women know about the other nine, then where's the crime?

I guess the assumption must be that the women are being exploited? I'd think women's lib should have come far enough, to allow women to be involved in polygamous marriages if they are knowing and willing partners, or is women's lib still after equal rights except when it is unfavorable to them? I used to hear a lot of women thought women should be equal but not be in certain areas like combat in the military. I guess I have not kept up on this area of extremism of late.

I know in some areas, like firefighters, standards sometimes have been lowered so women can even have "equal" opportunity as men. Not a damn thing equal about that! If you can't hang with the big dogs, you shouldn't be treated like one for any reason. If you don't believe in affirmative action, you shouldn't believe in that kind of thing.

Laws to legislate morality, where nobody is being victimized need to go, PC be damned though!
 
I'd say you are just wrong about that Bish. Adultery, if provable is usually enough to get the better of someone in a divorce, so it does seem to me that in civil law it does represent some form of breach of contract.
 
randomJACKASS said:
I'd say you are just wrong about that Bish. Adultery, if provable is usually enough to get the better of someone in a divorce, so it does seem to me that in civil law it does represent some form of breach of contract.
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Adultery and abuse are the two most accepted reasons for divorce..but there are others.

I'm just not willing to follow Prof's slippery slope trap.
 
randomJACKASS said:
Yeah well it seems dumb to me, that if one man wants to marry 10 women, has the finances to support it, and all 10 women know about the other nine, then where's the crime?
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holy gendered speech batman!

so, the guy needs to support them bitches, heh?

yeeeeehah get them in the kitchen shootin' out little 'uns from ev'ry orifice!!!

nah i'm just fucking around.

the only problem i have with polygamists is... the ones that wanna marry + fuck a bunch of kids. you know, the ones that the OTC heroes of the free world continually support.

outside of kid fuckers, who cares what these folks do?
 
randomJACKASS said:
Yeah well it seems dumb to me, that if one man wants to marry 10 women, has the finances to support it, or one of his wives does, or more than one of his wives, or if the "welfare state" is willing, or maybe they live off the land, AND, all 10 women know about the other nine, then where's the crime?
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OK fixed it right up for ya man! Keep on spankin' us, it's about the only thing besides my own absurdity around here that makes me laugh lately!

:rofl:
 
Gonz said:
So we don't need to FORSAKE ALL OTHERS?
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Again...that's in your vows, and not in your contract.

Kinda like "Love, honour and OBEY"

Find me a wife that automatically OBEYS everything her husband says.

OMG...She didn't obey him when he was drunk and asked for the car keys!! That's BREACH OF CONTRACT!!!
 
oddly enough, obey wasn't there for either of us. Several other things were, but obey was conspicuous by it's absence
 
Hell, I don't know. Probably. Oh, you mean the license? That isn't a contract. That's a permission slip from the government (wait a minute...they had to authorize me & my wife to marry...why, that's heterophobic!!!!!)
 
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