Brown v. Buhman

Brown v. Buhman
CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Full case name Kody Brown; Meri Brown; Janelle Brown; Christine Brown; Robyn Sullivan, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Jeffrey R. Burhman, Defendant-Appellant, in his official capacity as County Attorney for Utah County
DecidedApril 11, 2016
Case history
Prior actionrev'g 947 F.Supp.2d 1170 (D. Utah 2013)
Court membership
Judges sittingScott M. Matheson, Jr. (joined by Bobby Baldock and Nancy Moritz)
Keywords
standing, polygamy

Brown v. Buhman, No. 14-4117 (10th Cir. 2016), is a legal case in the United States federal courts challenging the State of Utah's criminal polygamy law. The action was filed in 2011 by polygamist Kody Brown along with his wives Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Sullivan. The Brown family belongs to the Apostolic United Brethren faith. They are best known for the reality television series featuring them, Sister Wives.

The Browns prevailed in the district court in a 2013 ruling, but a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ordered the case to be dismissed on standing grounds in 2016. The Tenth Circuit concluded that because local Utah prosecutors had a policy of not pursuing most polygamy cases in the absence of additional associated crimes (e.g., welfare fraud or marriage of underage persons), the Browns had no credible fear of future prosecution and thus lacked standing.