Difference between revisions of "Question: Was the practice of polygamy against the law in Illinois in the 1840s?"

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Question: Was the practice of polygamy against the law in Illinois in the 1840s?

Summary: Under Illinois law, Joseph Smith and the Saints were not guilty of a crime due to their private practice of plural marriage. In fact, the Illinois legislature would later alter their laws precisely because they feared that their current law would allow Mormon polygamy.

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• M. Scott Bradshaw: "Joseph Smith could not have been properly convicted of adultery under the law of Illinois in 1844"
• Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?
• Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?
• Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?
• Question: Was there ever a consummation of the sealing between Maria Lawrence and Joseph Smith?

M. Scott Bradshaw: "Joseph Smith could not have been properly convicted of adultery under the law of Illinois in 1844"

M. Scott Bradshaw:

Joseph Smith could not have been properly convicted of adultery under the law of Illinois in 1844. Illinois law only criminalized adultery or fornication if it was "open". Had Joseph lived to face trial on this charge, he would have had good reason to expect acquittal because his relationships with his plural wives were not open, but were kept confidential and known by a relative few. Given a fair trial on this indictment, Joseph could have relied on several legal defenses.^[1]:402

Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith ever charged with adultery under Illinois law?
• William and Wilson Law charged Joseph with adultery in the case of Maria Lawrence
• Illinois law only criminalized adultery or fornication if it was "open"
• Joseph's relationships with his plural wives did not meet this definition

Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?

Jump to details:

• Question: Were there any similar cases under Illinois adultery statute which demonstrate that Joseph was not breaking the law?
• Two cases decided after Joseph's death demonstrate that there was nothing which would have permitted conviction
• If Joseph been charged by his wife Emma with adultery, this could have served as grounds for divorce under Illinois law
• It was later realized that Illinois law would probably support the practice of Latter-day Saint plural marriage, so they changed the wording of the law

Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?

Jump to details:

• Question: Why did Joseph Smith say "I had not been married scarcely five minutes...before it was reported that I had seven wives"?
• The Laws sought to have Joseph indicted for adultery and perjury
• Joseph was refuting the charge of adultery, not the fact that he had "seven wives"
• Joseph was not merely bluffing, nor was he lying—he literally could prove that the Laws were perjuring themselves on this point

Question: Was there ever a consummation of the sealing between Maria Lawrence and Joseph Smith?

Jump to details:

• Question: Was there ever a consummation of the sealing between Maria Lawrence and Joseph Smith?
• Although under law, Joseph Smith and Maria Lawrence were not guilty of adultery, this does not mean that they had not consummated their plural marriage

Notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} M. Scott Bradshaw, "Defining Adultery under Illinois and Nauvoo Law," in Sustaining the Law: Joseph Smith's Legal Encounters, edited by Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. Walker, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2014), 401–426.