Edmunds Act

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The Edmunds Act, signed into law on March 23, 1882, declared polygamy a felony. The act not only reinforced the 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act but also revoked the right of polygamists to vote, disallowed them from holding political office, and also made them ineligible to serve on a jury. The law was applied ex post facto.

These restrictions were enforced regardless of whether an individual was actually practicing polygamy, or merely believed in the Mormon doctrine of plural marriage without actually participating in it. This in effect became a religious test, where faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had their civil rights taken away without a trial or due process. Adulterers and fornicators had no such penalties applied and did not lose their rights.

All elected offices in the Utah Territory were vacated, an election board was formed to issue certificates to those who both denied polygamy and did not practice it, and new elections were held territory-wide.

[edit] Convictions

Rudger Clawson — August of 1882 — a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles who was the first person convicted (ex post facto, as he married his last wife before the law was passed). He was pardoned by President Grover Cleveland mere months before his sentence was going to expire.
William J. Flake — 1883 — one of the founders of Snowflake, Arizona, who married his second wife in 1868. Was imprisoned in the Yuma Territorial Prison in 1883. After his release, when asked which of his wives he was going to give up, he replied, "Neither. I married both in good faith and intended to support both of them." As he had already served his sentence, he could not be retried on the same charges.