Autonomy, Imperfect Consent, and Polygamist Sex Rights Claims

Abstract

Charles Moore had been watching the challenge to the Texas sodomy law as it made its way to the United States Supreme Court. When his partner called him to say that the Court had ruled the Texas antisodomy statute unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, he was overjoyed. Moore quickly found a copy of the decision online and devoured every word. He was thrilled by the court’s holding that the law violated privacy rights guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and was excited by the decision’s implications. Moore’s excitement was somewhat surprising. He is not a gay man, nor is he involved in gay and lesbian causes. He is a fundamentalist Mormon who believes in the religious doctrine of plural marriage. His enthusiasm over Lawrence was not about its implications for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (“LGBT”) rights, but about his hope that the ruling would provide support for the argument that the state should not be permitted to criminalize bigamy or polygamy between consenting adults. The partner who called to give Moore the news was his wife, and while she is currently his only wife, he