University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law Professor Linda Smith was interviewed by the Salt Lake Tribune in an article titled, Utah bar will investigate 7 lawyers who are said to be polygamists. Will the probe open doors to challenge bigamy law?
The article reads:
Linda F. Smith, a professor of law at the University of Utah who teaches a legal profession class and sits on the Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee at the Utah State Bar, said it’s unlikely being a polygamist would be enough to meet either of those two definitions. In an interview, Smith pointed to comments published alongside the rule saying some crimes, including adultery, are not offenses that would reflect on one’s fitness to practice law.
Smith used the example of former President Bill Clinton. His Arkansas law license was suspended for five years not because he may have committed adultery but because he lied in a deposition.
“The focus is on honesty,” Smith said.
That’s an indication to Smith that the bar doesn’t consider consensual relationships between adults to be evidence of untrustworthiness or unfitness.
“Lawyers have been polygamists in this state for a long time,” Smith added. “This isn’t that new.”