New porn laws including fines introduced in Utah – as state relaxes polygamy rules

Separate proposals, one cracking down on pornography, and one loosening laws regarding polygamy, pass different chambers of state legislature within an hour

Utah Republican State Representative Brady Brammer introduced a proposal to require warning labels on pornography in Utah which passed the state House on Tuesday, 18 February. ((AP Photo/Rick Bowmer))

Separate proposals moving through Utah’s state legislature are toughening up rules on pornography, while removing some restrictions relating to polygamy.

Senators in the deeply conservative state voted unanimously on Tuesday to change state law, removing the threat of jail time for consenting adult polygamists.

An hour later, House lawmakers approved a proposal that requires pornography to carry warning labels about harm to minors.

The majority of people in the state belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, which has forbidden polygamy for 130 years, and in 2016 declared pornography a public health crisis.

Because of the history of polygamy, Utah is particularly restrictive compared to other states when it comes to prohibiting cohabitation with more than one spouse. Under the proposed law, doing so would no longer be considered a felony, but instead an infraction, equivalent to many traffic offences with no jail time, but fines or community service instead.

It is estimated that some 30,000 people live in polygamous communities despite exisitng laws and believe that taking multiple wives will bring exaltation in heaven.

Supporters of the legislation argue that it will free people in those communities to report abuses without fear of prosecution, such as children being taken as wives, or coerced marriage — which would still carry harsh penalties.

“Bad people really can, and have, weaponised the law in order to keep their victims silent and isolated in their control,” says Republican Utah Senator Deidre Henderson, who introduced the legislation.

Utah has not prosecuted otherwise law-abiding polygamists for years. Still, Ms Henderson argues that fears remain, left over from raids where children were separated from their parents.

Former members of polygamous groups have spoken against the change, saying it would do little to help victims like those in underage marriages.

The polygamy legislation must pass the House, whereas the porn warning labels legislation need to be approved by the Senate.

Republican state representative Brady Brammer says the labelling law would carry a potential penalty of $2,500 per violation. The measure would apply to material that appears in Utah in print or online and allow the state and residents to sue producers.

“I think it will make a difference,” Mr Brammer said. “It won’t stop every problem related to obscenity, it will not stop all obscenity, but it will move the ball further down the field.”

It has been referred to as a dark day for freedom of expression by one adult entertainment industry group.

The new measure is aimed at hardcore obscene material, but the way the law is written could still allow for thousands of lawsuits, said Mike Stabile, a spokesman for the Free Speech Coalition, a pornography and adult entertainment trade group.

“Really it just sort of opens up the floodgates for lawsuits over all sorts of content,” he said. He also argues the dire harms outlined in the proposed warning label haven’t been proven.

Since Utah declared pornography a public health crisis in 2016, more than a dozen states have advanced similar proposals.