August 19, 2017, is the SEVENTEENTH  Polygamy Day ®.

The previous year has been one of disapointment and setback, giving pro-polygamy supporters very little to celebrate in this year's celebration of "Polygamy Day ® 17."

After the Brown Family in the Brown v. Buhman ("Sister Wives") polygamy case filed their petition to be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in September, 2016, to reverse the Tenth Circuit Appeals Court's Reversal of their case, the Utah Attorney General Office thereafter filed their opposition to the petition by the end of December. In that opposition, the UAGO told the following to the SCOTUS:

"Petitioners... are, at best, 'persons formerly threatened with prosecution under' the Statute. Id. at 21 (emphasis added). They face no current or continuing threat that Respondent will prosecute them in Utah, away from their new Nevada home. The case is moot..."

Having first used the power of government to media-publicly intimidate and instill in the Browns a very real fear (so great a real fear that the family felt bully-compelled to rapidly move out of Utah for safety from that same state government), the UAGO then exploited its power to use the tyranny of "prosecutorial discretion." The UAGO later declared that that office would not be seeking to prosecute the Brown family. Having used such "prosecutorial discretion," the UAGO "explained" to SCOTUS that that indicated that the Brown Family had no "Article III legal standing" required by the US Constitution with which to have this case even heard in court. By playing this legal-tactic game, the UAGO strategically sought to moot the Brown family's legal standing as a clever tactic to keep the already-otherwise-proven unconstitutional anti-polygamy law on the books.

On the very last day of US President Barack Obama's Presidency, SCOTUS went into "Conference" on this polygamy case. Rather than consider any polygamy arguments, the conference was only to confer about three technicality issues:

1. "Whether the government can seek to moot a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a statute by adopting a new non-enforcement policy during the pendency of litigation;
2. whether the government can later moot by voluntary cessation a subsequently filed lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a statute under which the government publicly threatened a party with prosecution; and
3. when a district court makes underlying findings of fact in the course of adjudicating a claim under the voluntary cessation doctrine, under what standard of review those findings should be examined on appeal."

Indeed, ever since Brown v. Buhman was first headed to the Tenth Circuit back in December 2015, National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel, had written that he was worried that the higher courts might be looking for a technicality as a way to avoid actually hearing this case on its merits. Henkel explained the following.

"Namely, as recently as 2013, SCOTUS vacated the Hollingsworth v. Perry case (instead of deciding it) simply because of the lack of correct 'standing' issue. For many, the hope of that decision based 'on its merits' potentiated it as a possibly very big case too. Truly, if Hollingsworth had been decided 'on its merits' rather than being vacated on the technicality of improper 'standing,' it might even have had impact on this Brown v. Buhman case. Instead, Hollingsworth had no positive impact for UCAP polygamy."

On New Years Day 2017, a news article for the media titled, "Will Supreme Court Hear 'Sister Wives' Polygamy case in 2017?" teased what was in store for the coming year for the polygamy issue:

"As Brown v. Buhman case petitions SCOTUS, 'Article 3 standing' technicalities could deny any 'merits' of arguments from even being heard."

That article's last paragraph re-iterated the hope and worry that pro-polygamists felt as the new year of 2017 began:

"Will SCOTUS embrace this rare opportunity to re-consider the constitutionality of unrelated consenting adult polygamy (UCAP)? Or, will the Supreme Court waste this unique moment in history; as National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel has worried, 'Will Brown v. Buhman be our Hollingsworth?'"

On January 23, 2017, unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court Declined to hear the "Sister Wives" polygamy case. The result is straight-forward, the Tenth Circuit Court's Reversal remains as the final decision. That Reversal was based only on the technicality that the UAGO had played in cleverly mooting the Brown family's "legal standing." As National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel said in an interview with FOX,

"It was not reversed on the merits of any arguments whatsoever.
They refused to hear any arguments at all."

Yet the loss of that opportunity to be heard by SCOTUS was not the only disappointment and setback.

On July 24, 2017, Canada's British Columbia Supreme Court found two men "guilty of polygamy", even though no other crimes were involved. The cases had nothing to do with underage marriages, nor with welfare fraud, nor with any other real crimes. Although the verdicts will be appealed to higher courts, the very idea of anyone being found "guilty of polygamy" while involving no other real crimes, is most defintely worrisome for UCAPs, unrelated consenting adult polygamy supporters.

Yes, it gets worse. Even though normal UCAPs have always opposed convicted criminal Warren Jeffs and his FLDS cult, that criminal's brother, Lyle Jeffs, was hunted down and caught by the FBI this year. Just as "Pro-Polygamists Glad that Fugitive Warren Jeffs was Caught" in 2006, "Pro-Polygamists Glad that Fugitive Lyle Jeffs was Caught" in 2017.

Even so, many in the the media returned to being the manufactured-news outlets. Namely, manufactured-news media again used the propaganda term, falsely calling Lyle Jeffs as if he was a "polygamist leader." Neither of the Jeffs brothers were ever leaders in the national movement for Unrelated Consenting Adult Polygamy. Correcting this falsehood in a June 25, 2017 press release by the TruthBearer.org organization, National Polygamy Advocate ™ Mark Henkel commented by using the famous quote from Yogi Berra,

"It's like déjà vu all over again."

In 2017, the fight for freedom for UCAP, Unrelated Consenting Adult Polygamy, has certainly suffered some disappointments and setbacks, positioned little better (if at all) than we were in 2006. The Courts in US and Canada have come out with decisions that do nothing to advance liberty. The criminals of the FLDS are back in the news. And the manufactured-news media are back to using dishonest headlines, calling criminals as "polygamist leaders" who never were such.

What a year indeed. Nevertheless, the fight for freedom continues. Down but not defeated, pro-polygamists remain hopful: we will have our freedom one day! Supporters of UCAP - unrelated consenting adult polygamy - surely have a lot to reconsider, to contemplate, and to strategize this year, even while celebrating this August 19, 2017, "Polygamy Day ® 17."

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