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Canwest News Service
VANCOUVER – The lawyers for Winston Blackmore and James Oler were in B.C. Supreme Court Tuesday arguing that the attorneys general for B.C. and Canada can't do a reference case on the constitutionality of the anti-polygamy law in the manner they propose.
B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong announced last month that rather than going to the Court of Appeal, the case would be the first to be done in the B.C. Supreme Court and, possibly, the first to go to any trial court in the country.
If it goes ahead, it will allow for government lawyers, a court-appointed lawyer – an amicus – to call evidence including witnesses.
It would also allow interveners to do the same.
Blackmore and Oler are the two leaders in the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful and their lawyers argue that they – not an amicus – should be arguing the case and be fully funded.
Blackmore's lawyer Joe Arvay and Oler's lawyer Bob Wickett also argued that Chief Justice Robert Bauman should reject the government's recommendation to appoint George Macintosh as an amicus, who would primarily argue the case that the polygamy law is unconstitutional.
Vancouver Sun
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Polygamy is already leal in Saskatchewan. Men have already argued in Saskatchewan cases that is was illegal for the Saskatchewan government to make them the spouses of women who were already married. The saskatchewan government told them Saskatchewan law takes precedence over Federal criminal code basically. But the Saskatchewan Family law states first spouses rights take precedence over the “second” or subsequent simultaneous spouses rights. So, the new similtaneous spouses just have same rights in the union. They have what is called “second, third, fourth, and so on ..rights..” Saskatchewan has it all figured out for Polygamist immigrants.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link