SALT LAKE CITY -- Most people in Utah think polygamy is both a crime and an embarrassment to the state, according to a survey released as the prosecution of polygamist Tom Green wrapped up Friday.
In the KTVX television poll, 74 percent said they thought polygamy is a crime; 18 percent said it wasn't. Asked whether polygamy was an embarrassment to Utah's image, 63 percent of the 400 residents polled said yes, while 33 percent said it doesn't hurt the state's image.
As for people's opinion of the state's first bigamy trial in decades, 48 percent said, if convicted, a prison term is appropriate for Green, who lives with five wives and 25 children in Utah's remote West Desert; 37 percent said he should receive a lesser sentence.
In the survey, 68 percent of the respondents said they are current or former members of the Mormon church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condoned plural marriages until 1890. Today, polygamists are excommunicated from the church.
Many of the 30,000 polygamists living in the West profess to be followers of original Mormon doctrine.