Utah bar will investigate 7 lawyers who are said to be polygamists. Will the probe open doors to

Utah bar will investigate 7 lawyers who are said to be polygamists. Will the probe open doors to challenge bigamy law?


The organization that regulates Utah attorneys will investigate complaints that seven lawyers are violating rules of conduct by being polygamists, creating one more song for the state’s complicated dance with plural marriage.

The complainant, Melissa Ellis, shared with The Salt Lake Tribune the confirmation letters she received from Utah State Bar. The lawyers being investigated include Paul E. Kingston, leader of the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group. He has been a licensed attorney since 1990, according to a bar directory.

For Ellis and other polygamy opponents, the complaints represent a long-standing criticism of how Utah takes no action against polygamists who hold public office or professional licenses. At the same time, the inquiry also risks giving polygamists something they need to challenge Utah’s bigamy statute in court.

Jonathan Turley, a Washington, D.C., attorney who represented the Brown family from the television show “Sister Wives,” said imposing discipline against a lawyer for being a polygamist could be the “actual harm” the Browns lacked when they challenged Utah’s polygamy laws and lost.

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/04/17/utah-bar-will-investigate/