(CNN) -- Polygamy is back in the headlines. Last week, a federal judge in Utah struck down part of the state's anti-polygamy law as unconstitutional, although he kept the ban on possessing more than one marriage license at a time. Fans of the "Sister Wives" reality TV stars, who filed the suit, are rejoicing in the news. At the other end of the spectrum, TLC debuted its newest docuseries, "Breaking the Faith," which tells the dark story of women and children trying to escape from the practice. Another lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice alleges that polygamous clans are secretly running the show in Utah and Arizona townships, manipulating the political process from behind the scenes. And in Texas, the Attorney General's Office is inching closer to seizing a massive polygamous ranch.
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A judge in Utah struck down part of the state's anti-polygamy law as unconstitutional
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Mark Goldfeder: In practice, polygamy exists even if legally it is not recognized
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He says U.S. needs to address polygamy, possibly find a way to make it legal
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Goldfeder: Recognition would enable law enforcement to crack down on abuse
What competing narratives about polygamy in America reveal is that whether or not a white-washed, clean-cut version of plural marriage could in theory legally exist, in practice it does not, and what states like Utah, Arizona and @placeholder actually have is an unregulated, dangerous and harmful situation, where the strong prey upon the weak and helpless.