Editing Mormonism and polygamy (section)

==== 1879 ''Reynolds'' vs. ''United States'' ====
{{Main|Reynolds v. United States}}
In 1879, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled that a defendant cannot claim a religious obligation as a valid defense to a crime and upheld the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in ''[[Reynolds v. United States]]''.<ref name=":7" />{{rp|93}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1878) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/98/145/ |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> The Court said that while holding a religious belief was protected under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] right of freedom of religion, practicing a religious belief that broke the law was not.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs |title=Reynolds v. United States |url=https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/cases/reynolds-v-united-states |access-date=2023-03-31 |website=berkleycenter.georgetown.edu |language=en}}</ref> ''Reynolds'' vs. ''United States'' was the Supreme Court's first case in which a party used the right of [[Freedom of religion in the United States|freedom of religion]] as a defense. The ruling concluded that Mormons could be charged with committing bigamy despite their religious beliefs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Stephen Eliot |date=2009 |title=Barbarians within the Gates: Congressional Debates on Mormon Polygamy, 1850–1879 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23921808 |journal=Journal of Church and State |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=587–616 [587]|doi=10.1093/jcs/csq021 |jstor=23921808 |issn=0021-969X}}</ref>