I wonder what capacity the FLDS has to defend itself against a general
law enforcement "raid"? Then there are jurisdictional issues, since
the FLDS community straddles the Arizona / Utah border. Such an
operation would probably require coordinated action between 2
different state law enforcement agencies, unless they get the Feds
involved. I am under the impression that Utah is largely under the
political control of Mormons, who may not be too happy with the idea
of using aggresive force against fellow Mormons, even though they
strongly disagree with the FLDS. Perhaps they would use "surgical
arrests", aimed at arresting and convicting key FLDS leaders. They
would have to nab the key leaders early on, since any "surgical arrest
operation" would put the FLDS in "fortress" mode.
________________________________________________________________________________
State Legislators out to ban child bigamy
House gives tentative nod to felony bill
Robbie Sherwood
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 16, 2004 12:00 AM
The Legislature is poised to strike a blow against the forced
marriages of teenage girls in polygamist enclaves such as Colorado
City in northern Arizona.
The House tentatively approved a bill Thursday that makes child
bigamy, a religious marriage between a minor and an adult who is
already married, a felony. Senate Bill 1335 would also allow
authorities to prosecute the religious leader who performs the
marriage ceremonies and the parents of the minor.
The bill still faces a formal House vote and a final vote in the
Senate before moving to the governor.
"I'm not going to speculate if this will stop the practice, but I
think it will have a chilling effect," said Attorney General Terry
Goddard, who pushed for the bill. "This gives us a legal tool to bring
prosecutions in cases we can't prosecute now. In other words, right
now we can only go after the bigamist husband for child abuse, which
is extremely difficult to prove."
The bill grew out of reports of teenage girls fleeing their homes and
women claiming that their children were being forced into marriages in
Colorado City, a remote community near the Arizona-Utah line that is
dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day
Saints. The church's leader, Warren Jeffs, reportedly performs all of
the plural-marriage ceremonies in his congregation, which would make
him a potential target for prosecution.
The bill would make bigamy a Class 3 felony, punishable by up to 3.5
years in prison. The church pastor and parents could be convicted of a
Class 5 felony, which carries a potential sentence of 1.5 years.
Members of a rival polygamist sect in Centennial Park that does not
allow marriage to minors had argued that the bill's definition of
marriage would allow prosecutions of plural marriages between
consenting adults.
Goddard said that won't happen.
"This bill goes after illegal behavior, not somebody's belief or way
of life," Goddard said. "I don't think this bill has any impact on
those who practice marriage among consenting adults."
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