Canadian judge dismisses polygamy charges

TORONTO (RNS) A judge on British Columbia’s Supreme Court has dismissed criminal charges against two alleged polygamists who say Canadian law protects their right to have more than one wife. Supreme Court Justice Sunni S. Stromberg-Stein on Wednesday (Sept. 23) threw out polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore, 53, and James Oler, 45, leaders of rival […]

TORONTO (RNS) A judge on British Columbia’s Supreme Court has dismissed criminal charges against two alleged polygamists who say Canadian law protects their right to have more than one wife.

Supreme Court Justice Sunni S. Stromberg-Stein on Wednesday (Sept. 23) threw out polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore, 53, and James Oler, 45, leaders of rival factions in the polygamous community of Bountiful in British Columbia’s interior.

Blackmore and Oler belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect from the mainstream Mormon Church, which banned polygamy more than a century ago.


Blackmore was charged with one count of polygamy with at least 19 women named in an indictment. Oler was charged with having two wives. They faced a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Stromberg-Stein ruled the provincial government went beyond its authority to pursue charges against the men.

In a 34-page ruling, Stromberg-Stein found that former B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal had gone “special prosecutor shopping” when he ignored the advice of two prosecutors and kept searching until one was found who agreed to press charges.

The attorney general “had finally obtained the decision he wanted all along,” the judge wrote. The “harm” in finding a willing third prosecutor, she added, “undermines the administration of justice by leaving the perception, if not the reality, of political interference and of an oppressive or unfair prosecution.”

The criminal charges were the first in Canada, even though polygamy has been illegal in the country since the 1950s. No one has ever been prosecuted.

Blackmore has said that Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects his religious rights to have more than one wife and trumps anti-polygamy laws.


“I am thrilled,” Blackmore told the Associated Press. “It has been a long and hard year so far. It’s been very stressful for my family and stressful for me.”

Nancy Mereska, who has devoted the past six years of her life to a campaign called Stop Polygamy in Canada, said she’s devastated by the decision.

“We are back to square one,” she told Canadian media. “The polygamists will see this as a great victory.”

It is not yet known whether the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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