By removing Latter-day Saints from positions of authority in the Utah justice system, the Act was intended to allow for successful prosecutions of Mormon polygamists.

They included the Wade, Cragin, and Cullom Bills, which had their origin in the Utah Territory and were initiated by men who were bitterly opposed to the Mormon curia.

At any rate, the Cullom bill died of willful neglect, and the territory was free, for a time, from this direct and dangerous menace to its independence.

Furthermore, the wives could not be required to testify against their husbands, and the records of plural marriages were kept privately in the Endowment House.

After US Attorney William Carey promised to stop his attempts to indict general authorities during a test case to be brought before the US Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the anti-bigamy law, church leaders agreed to furnish a defendant.

Reynolds agreed to serve, provided the attorney numerous witnesses who could testify that he was married to two wives, and was indicted for bigamy by a grand jury on October 23, 1874.