Justice may be disbarred

PROVO — Polygamist Walter Steed said he believes being spiritually married to more than one wife is essential to reach the highest degree of glory in the afterlife.

Now the Utah Supreme Court must decide whether Steed's exercise of this religious practice should bar him from serving as a municipal court justice in a small Utah town because bigamy is a third-degree felony.

Steed was present at Brigham Young University Wednesday when the high court heard oral arguments in the case before a room packed with law students and others.

The Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC), which investigates allegations of misconduct by judges, has recommended the high court remove Steed from the bench, where he has served for 25 years in the primarily polygamous community of Hildale.

The complaint was filed by Tapestry Against Polygamy, a group comprised of former polygamous wives who help other women leave the lifestyle and who advocate against it.

Steed is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which encourages polygamy. He was legally married to one woman in 1965 and sealed in religious ceremonies to the other two in 1975 and 1985, respectively. All were adults and entered the situation knowing the subsequent relationships would not be recognized as state-sanctioned marriages.

Steed was appointed to the part-time job as municipal court justice by the Hildale City Council in 1980 and, in that capacity, handles such things as class B misdemeanors. Unlike state district court judges, he does not face retention elections.

Rodney Parker, Steed's lawyer, argued this is a matter involving constitutional rights of liberty, freedom of conscience and freedom of association. He also noted that laws against bigamy and, by extension, polygamy, have rarely been enforced for the past 50 years.

Parker said neither the Utah attorney general nor the Washington County attorney chose to prosecute Steed.

"If they would have prosecuted, would that have made a difference in your argument?" Justice Jill Parrish asked.

Parker said if Steed had been prosecuted and convicted of a crime, the JCC could have used that to oust him from office, but "I don't think we would be here at all" if Steed had been found not guilty.

Meanwhile, Colin Winchester, lawyer for the JCC, countered that judges, of all people, must uphold the law and are held to even higher standards than others to avoid bringing the office they hold into disrepute.

Winchester said Steed, if concerned about his constitutional rights, could have taken action earlier by seeking an opinion from the Ethics Advisory Committee of the state's Judicial Council, or by filing a petition for declaratory judgment in either federal or state court.