August 19, 2016, is the SIXTEENTH  Polygamy Day ®.

Two primary series of events events have occurred over the previous year - one positive and the other one, not-so-positive - while leading up to this year's celebration of "Polygamy Day ® 16."

The Autumn of 2015 yielded quite an interesting and surprising "new evolution" of political position about "Religious Liberty" by religious leaders and supporters of OMOW (One Man One Woman) marriage control.

Shortly after the US Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2015, that States Must License Same Sex Marriage (but not Polygamy), a County Clerk in Kentucky and self-identified Christian believer named Kim Davis asserted that she had a "Religious Liberty right" to not issue same sex marriage licenses.

After Kim Davis spent a few days in jail for "contempt of court," OMOW supporters and their political leaders rallied to her side. They declared she has a "Religious Liberty right" to disobey a Supreme Court decision on marriage. UCAPs (Unrelated Consenting Adult Polygamy supporters) called out the hypocrisy of OMOWs suddenly using the same position that UCAPs have used since the Reynolds v. United States decision of 1878. UCAPs would, of course, proverbially say to OMOWs, "If you have that "Religious Liberty," so do we. OMOWs, you can not have your cake and eat it too."

On September 25, 2015, a Christian OMOW organization presented Kim Davis with an award. Treating her as if she was a martyr and a heroine, they awarded her because of her supposed "unwillingness to accept rulings and statutes that conflict with the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God." Of course, UCAPs called out the hypocrisy of the award, from both a Natural view and a Biblical view (both of which support polygamy), and from Supreme Court decisions Reynolds v. United States (1878) to Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Hence, UCAPs asked, "OMOWs, are you REALLY unwilling to accept rulings and statutes that conflict with the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God?"

For the rest of that Autumn, 2015, religious leaders and supporters of OMOW (One Man One Woman) consistently weighed in. Even the catholic institution's Pope Francis declared such "Religious Liberty" is a human right. UCAPs thus explain the consequence of that "newly-evolved" position: "OMOWs, If you have a 'Religious Liberty' to ignore a SCOTUS Marriage Decision, we UCAPs must have that 'Religious Liberty' too."

During that same time, the appeal in the "Sister Wives" polygamy case, Brown v. Buhman, was filed at the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado. In December, the court agreed to hear the case, but required both sides to immediately provide legal briefs to respond to two very specific questions.

1. Whether Appellees had standing and their claims against Appellant Buhman were ripe at the time of the complaint; and
2. If so, whether the prosecutorial policy announced in Appellant Buhman’s May 22, 2012 declaration, or any other matters, rendered Appellees’ claims against him moot.

National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel was presciently concerned about the Tenth Circuit Court, writing: "those two questions are worrisome; the questions could otherwise seem to suggest that the court itself is pro-actively looking for ways to intentionally allow such bad law to stay on the books by purposely trying to find such technicalities with which to stop the case at this lower-level court."

Immediately after the case was heard in the appeals court on January 21, 2016, National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel was giving media interviews to explain the case. Examples include: The Bill Cunningham Show, The Bill Meyer Show, The Real Bob Mitchell, The Tom Barnard Show, and Poppoff with Mary Jane Popp.

On April 11, 2016, the initial panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a rather harsh setback to the case. Living up to Mark Henkel's previous "worry," the appeals court reversed all the positive decisons of the lower courts, declaring,

"Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we hold this matter is moot. It is not a 'Case' or 'Controversy' under Article III of the U.S. Constitution. We remand to the district court with instructions to vacate the judgment and dismiss this action."

While the Brown family followed up by filing a request for all of the Tenth Circuit Court to re-hear the case, National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel was again giving media interviews to explain the serious ramifications of the decision. Examples include: The Christal Frost Show, The Jayne Carroll Show, and Good Morning Show.

On May 13, 2016, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Browns' request, writing the following:

"As no member of the original panel or the en banc court requested that a poll be called, the petition for en banc review is denied."

Not only did the Tenth Circuit reverse all of the positive decisions of the lower courts (here and here), but it did so with only a matter of "legal standing." As National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel explained to FOX TV, ""It was not reversed on the merits of any arguments whatsoever. They refused to hear any arguments at all."

VIDEO: - Mark Henkel on FOX 10 Phoenix - 5-24-2016 - Polygamy

The Brown family thereafter requested an extension of time to submit a formal Writ of Certiorari up to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). On August 3, 2016, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor approved that extension until September 10, 2016. After the Brown family submits that Writ of Certiorari before the deadline, and as long as SCOTUS approves that petition, the Brown v. Buhman case moving forward means that Polygamy will be heading up to the Supreme Court in the Spring of 2017.

As positive a development as it is (from a UCAP pro-polygamy view) that OMOW (One Man One Woman) leaders and supporters have now developed a "newly evolved" position of "Religious Liberty" this past year, the set-back in the Brown v. Buhman case is cause for concern. As such, supporters of UCAP - unrelated consenting adult polygamy - surely have a lot to contemplate and to strategize this year while celebrating this August 19, 2016, "Polygamy Day ® 16."