
Brian Hales is a leading published authority on the subject of plural marriage, but, alas, he’s an active and believing Latter-day Saint.
Accordingly, those who really, really, really, really dislike his point of view on the subject — it doesn’t lend itself easily to attempts to discredit Joseph Smith — have sought to dismiss him as a mere amateur who needn’t be taken seriously.
Here’s a response to such dismissals:
http://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2015/10/brian-hales-amateurrevisited.html