Should you go to jail for BIGAMY?

[Buckalew11]

I agree with Sparx but then again, i pride myself in looking at life a bit from a simple POV. LOL

And i have been known for telling DH "we need a wife around here!"

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

Papa Deuce, I personally know of someone convicted and found guilty with 3 DUI's between the time of 2003 and 1992 that has not even lost their driver's license let alone serve any jail time for it. I even paid for one of those criminal background checks because I just couldn't believe it. I don't understand our legal system AT ALL when someone like that walks away with probation (no community service, either) and someone with two wives gets jail time. Obviously two wives is against the law, I get that, but there has to be some sort of consistency here...

 

[TurboKitty]

Right, you want to play games?

Okay, lets say instead of a man guilty of bigamy, it's a woman running a house of prostitution. It's not a huge crime. Should she go to jail? She didn't kill anyone, regardless of the laws she knowingly broke....

Our jails are overcrowded, is her's such a big crime?

He broke the law. Period.

If you don't agree with it, work toward changing that law and be prepared for your daughters to share a mate with other women.

 

[poohandwendy]

Absolutely true. But again, thre are people doing MUCH worse things and going free or being released. Don't you think they need to be put away before a guy who marries two women? There is NO WAY everybody goes to jail. Just isn't gonna happen. So then you need to decide which people need jail more. We can disagree on whether he deserves it, but in the real world, not everybody goes to jail for breaking a law that has jail time as a possibility. Just the way it is.

For the others, I do not know whether any other fraud was being comitted other than the bigamy.

The severity of a crime is taken into consideration during sentencing in ANY criminal trial. People are doing things much more horrible than tax evasion, but some people go to jail for it. There are alot of crimes that are not as severe as murder or rape, yet those people only make up a percentage of our prison population.

Not everyone who is convicted of bigamy is going to end up doing jail time...just like not all who are convicted of selling drugs are going to end up doing jail time. (And I would venture a guess that the bigamists who do end up doing jail time are there because they have also committed other crimes in the process. Probably also welfare abuse, tax evasion, other fraud.) It's up to a judge and/or jury to decide the severity of the crime. And they do take that into consideration during sentencing.

ETA, I see that in your OP you state that a guy in your area has been 'arrested' for bigamy. He has not been convicted and he hasn't been sentenced, so you have no idea what the outcome will be for him. Are you saying it shoudl not be a crime, or that jail time is too harsh, under ANY circumstance?

 

[Papa Deuce]

Right, you want to play games?

Okay, lets say instead of a man guilty of bigamy, it's a woman running a house of prostitution. It's not a huge crime. Should she go to jail? She didn't kill anyone, regardless of the laws she knowingly broke....

Our jails are overcrowded, is her's such a big crime?

He broke the law. Period.

If you don't agree with it, work toward changing that law and be prepared for your daughters to share a mate with other women.

Why did you make this personal?

And no, I would not send a woman to jail for running a house of prostitution over MANY people who have done other crimes that have been set free or not incarcerated at all. Knowing that some people are not gonna see jail time is just a fact. I say there are FAR WORSE offenders.

Now if you could assure me that EVERY SINGLE person who is found guilty of a crime that is punsihable by jail, would actually serve time, then yes, I would be in favor of him going to jail. But that isn't reality in the days of overcrowding and tight budgets.

 

[Papa Deuce]

The severity of a crime is taken into consideration during sentencing in ANY criminal trial. People are doing things much more horrible than tax evasion, but some people go to jail for it. There are alot of crimes that are not as severe as murder or rape, yet those people only make up a percentage of our prison population.

Not everyone who is convicted of bigamy is going to end up doing jail time...just like not all who are convicted of selling drugs are going to end up doing jail time. (And I would venture a guess that the bigamists who do end up doing jail time are there because they have also committed other crimes in the process. Probably also welfare abuse, tax evasion, other fraud.) It's up to a judge and/or jury to decide the severity of the crime. And they do take that into consideration during sentencing.

Are you talking about a particular case or just in general?

Just a guy in my area. and to my knowledge there is no fraud of any kind outside of the bigamy. Maybe there is, but I don't recall hearing of any.

 

[poohandwendy]

Why did you make this personal?

Actually, if you want to talk about changing laws, it is entirely appropriate to discuss how that would affect us on a personal level.

Now if you could assure me that EVERY SINGLE person who is found guilty of a crime that is punsihable by jail, would actually serve time, then yes, I would be in favor of him going to jail. But that isn't reality in the days of overcrowding and tight budgets.

But, not every crime committed that is punishable by prison should result in a person going to jail. Why do you think we have a 'sentencing' phase of a trial? It is important to take circumstances into account when deciding how severe a punishment should be. There is no cookie cutter answer to this, it's just not that simple.

 

[poohandwendy]

Just a guy in my area. and to my knowledge there is no fraud of any kind outside of the bigamy. Maybe there is, but I don't recall hearing of any.

It is unlikely he will do jail time unless his crime is severe. I guess it will all come out in the trial. (Btw, I edited my post because I saw that you were talking about a particular case...and added some questions)

 

[Papa Deuce]

Actually, if you want to talk about changing laws, it is entirely appropriate to discuss how that would affect us on a personal level. But, not every crime committed that is punishable by prison should result in a person going to jail. Why do you think we have a 'sentencing' phase of a trial? It is important to take circumstances into account when deciding how severe a punishment should be. There is no cookie cutter answer to this, it's just not that simple.

Exactly why I am in disagreement with all those who insist that he MUST go to jail becasue he "broke a law".

 

[TurboKitty]

Respectfully begging your pardon, but I was not the first on this thread to "make it personal".

Sparx, I always admire you, especially considering your age, but I have to say, I think you are looking at it too simplistically, and like someone your age would answer.[........

Rich, you know that many cultures and religions totally embrace bigamy, right? I know you do........

Whether or not I agree with our laws doesn't change the fact that ARE laws.

If I don't agree with them, I work toward making a change. I don't opine on a message board, I sign petitions. I use the internet for research, as well as place for recreation.

Was this meant to be just a "what if" kind of thread, or were you really looking for our thoughts on the issue?

 

[poohandwendy]

Exactly why I am in disagreement with all those who insist that he MUST go to jail becasue he "broke a law".

Who said that? They are saying that if you commit a crime that carries a penalty that can include jail time, you take that chance. It is a possibility.

 

[poohandwendy]

Now if you could assure me that EVERY SINGLE person who is found guilty of a crime that is punsihable by jail, would actually serve time, then yes, I would be in favor of him going to jail.

Just for clarification, are you saying that you think ANY person comvicted of any crime that is punishable by prison time SHOULD be sent to prison without taking the circumstances into consideration? You want to get rid of the sentencing phase?

 

[Papa Deuce]

Respectfully begging your pardon, but I was not the first on this thread to "make it personal".






Whether or not I agree with our laws doesn't change the fact that ARE laws.

If I don't agree with them, I work toward making a change. I don't opine on a message board, I sign petitions. I use the internet for research, as well as place for recreation.

Was this meant to be just a "what if" kind of thread, or were you really looking for our thoughts on the issue?

Personally, I do not care one way or the other whether he serves time. I am just look at real life situtions, where people who do FAR worse get off.

When I said "personal" I meant why drag my daughters in to it. The people I addressed, I addressed, not their families. And In Sparx's case, I do admire her... something wrong with that? She has well thought out positions. But in this case I don't think she realizes the bigger picture that this is a monor crime when compared to many who do not get jail time for far worse crimes.

And Rich and I usually agree. I thinks he's strong enough to take what I said without any problem.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Just for clarification, are you saying that you think ANY person comvicted of any crime that is punishable by prison time SHOULD be sent to prison without taking the circumstances into consideration? You want to get rid of the sentencing phase?

Nope, Im just playing devil's advocate since people have said he broke a law and must go to jail. It just isn't black and white, hence the point of my OP.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Who said that? They are saying that if you commit a crime that carries a penalty that can include jail time, you take that chance. It is a possibility.

Um, I only had to look as far as post 3 and 4. There may be others.

 

[Sparx]

Ok. This is the last time I'm defending my opinion.

This man broke the law. Their is no other way to say it. He didn't bend the law. He did't go around the law. He broke it. He knew that this was a law. It wasn't an unintentional accident. No one forced him to marry two women.
If he claimed two wives and children he was commiting insurance fraud too. People go to jail for that, also.

It isnt' a case of if teh jails are over crouded. This is a case of Should this man be in jail. and the answer is yes. He hsould be in jail. why? because he broke the law. Thats all there is to it. He did something he knew was wrong and should be punished.

I don't know if this was rooted in religion because I know tehre are certain religions that see it as ok. But that doesn't matter. Separation of Church and state says that church has no power over state. so that doesn't matter in teh legal eyes of the country.

I don't care if the jails are over crowded. Thats not what this is about, but you keep coming back to it. You asked a simple yes or no question. "should this man go to jail for bigamy" and my answer is "yes"

Now I've been here three times defending myself and my opinion to you. Personally, I am tired. Good night.

 

[poohandwendy]

Personally, I do not care one way or the other whether he serves time. I am just look at real life situtions, where people who do FAR worse get off.

But, that is the way our system works to be fair. People who end up in jail for commiting crimes almost always have either blown it in a severe way, or have been warned before and ignored the law. Our jails are not full of people committing victimless crimes. And we do set up the laws so that we can legally put someone in jail if they commit a crime that can be severe enough to reuire it.

I guess I am just wondering if you are saying that bigamy should not even be a crime, or if you are just concerned with the potential for jail time for bigamists?

 

[TurboKitty]

By the way, I'm pretty sure the women, families created with those women, and the parents and pre-existing families of those women just might take it a little personally.

If you are asked to step into the shoes of another for the sake of perspective in an exchange of ideas, that is somehow crossing a line?

If you think because of taxes and overcrowding, it should be reduced to a misdomeanor crime, great.

Now go hammer out the details. How many wives bump it higher?Three? Seven? If fraud is a factor, does it change and how? What about state to state or are you just lobbying for a blanket federal law, with individual states having no jurisdiction?

If you break the law, you should go to jail. We have laws judges to decide for how long. They aren't always decisions I agree with, but I don't break the law.

 

[poohandwendy]

Nope, Im just playing devil's advocate since people have said he broke a law and must go to jail. It just isn't black and white, hence the point of my OP.

Seems to me that you are talking in circles because you act like it should be black and white. That bigamy isn't severe enough to call for jail time. I am saying that it is a crime that CAN carry a jail sentence, and it will if your circumstances are severe enough.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Seems to me that you are talking in circles because you act like it should be black and white. That bigamy isn't severe enough to call for jail time. I am saying that it is a crime that CAN carry a jail sentence, and it will if your circumstances are severe enough.

OK, here is my last comment. I put the OP out there just to guage what people thought. I think he should be penalized, and, that if in the real world there was space in the jails for him, and that there was enough money to incarcerate him, then fine, put him in jail.

But since in the real world, it does not work that way, then NO, he shouldn't serve time becasue there are far worse offenders than a bigamist, getting off or not serving jail time becasue of those same lack of funds, or jail space.

I thought that I was being clear. If this doesn't clear up my position, then I guess nothing will.