Bigamy is the illegal act of being married to two people at the same time. It is a bone of contention in Western countries, particularly in the US. Some cultures and religions accept it, but it can exploit one or more spouses. The punishment for bigamy varies, and it is rarely prosecuted.
Bigamy is the practice of being married to two people at the same time. This form of polygamy is considered illegal in many Western countries, and has historically been a bone of contention, especially in the United States. Some Mormon sects advocate the practice of polygamy and resent state interference in what they consider to be their private affairs. As a general rule, this crime is rarely prosecuted and, when it is, the punishment varies; the primary spouse may be sentenced to serve a prison sentence and potentially pay a fine, for example.
In a classic example of bigamy, a man marries one woman and then marries another several years later while still legally married to the first few women. Depending on the culture in which this occurs, the second marriage may be entered into with the full consent of both wives, or the second marriage may be hidden. If the man took a third wife, he would commit trigamy; if he added other spouses to the mix, it would become polygamy or, more accurately, polygyny.
Sometimes, people commit this act by accident and the law has some leeway to provide for this. For example, if a couple separates but does not formally divorce and one spouse remarries, this could be considered a form of bigamy, but is often permissible if the separation was more than five years ago and the remarrying spouse has made a good faith effort to formally divorce the other. In some regions, if someone has been missing for five years or more, they could be declared legally dead, allowing the surviving spouse to remarry without fear of prosecution.
In the United States, where polygamy has been a particularly thorny issue, several court cases and laws have clearly established that being married to more than one person at the same time is illegal. The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act of 1862 specifically outlawed the practice, and it was upheld in a Supreme Court challenge in 1878. However, the laws are often difficult to enforce, largely because they targeted the Mormon community, who lived in regions isolated in the American West. Even today, bringing charges can be challenging, and such allegations are usually integrated into a larger indictment.
In some regions of the world, being married to two people is perfectly acceptable and commonplace, due to cultural or religious values. Some people find that such marriages can be beneficial for those involved by allowing partners to share the work in the marriage and work together as a team. Others find it exploits one or more of the people involved in the marriage, especially when a second wife is treated more like a house slave than a member of the family.
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