Warren Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has polygamous communities in Arizona, Utah, Texas and Canada. The FLDS is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon faith. Jeffs was...
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Warren Jeffs is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has polygamous communities in Arizona, Utah, Texas and Canada. The FLDS is not affiliated with the mainstream Mormon faith. Jeffs was hiding from police for over 2 years before he was arrested in late August 2006 at a traffic stop north of Las Vegas. He was on the FBI's Most Wanted List.
I remember reading part of The Naked Lunch a few years back…actually, a lot of years back and found it quite strange, and thus didn’t finish it, but never discarded it and planned on reading it later down the line (I have the book on my shelf now). About a month ago I heard from a friend of a friend about his other book (his, meaning William S. Burroughs) called Junky and thus picked it up and began reading it. It had me quite captivated for it took you on a journey of his drug induced... Read Full Story
The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial following the raid of a West Texas ranch was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting an underage girl with whom he had a so-called "spiritual marriage." Jurors who last week convicted Raymond Jessop, 38, handed down the sentence that includes an $8,000 fine. His attorneys had sought probation for the conviction that could have brought him up to 20 years in prison. Jessop, who prosecutors allege has nine wives... Read Full Story
The first of a dozen polygamist sect members charged with abuse of women stands trial Monday, 18 months after agents raided the group's remote ranch and carted off more than 400 children in the largest child-custody case in American history. Raymond Jessop, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of sexual assault of a child, a charge stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He will be tried later on a... Read Full Story
The first jury trial in more than a decade in the sleepy West Texas town of Eldorado involves an alleged polygamist and an accusation of sexual assault of an underage bride, a far cry from the occasional drunken driving cases that normally occupy the Schleicher County court system. Attorneys on Monday will begin culling the largest jury pool ever called in Eldorado to try to find 14 people in a county of 2,800 who can set aside what they've heard about a polygamist sect whose alleged... Read Full Story
Canada will not appeal a court ruling tossing out criminal charges against two men in polygamous religious sects, authorities in British Columbia said Thursday. Provincial Attorney General Michael de Jong said that westernmost British Columbia will instead ask its provincial Supreme Court whether Canada's law against polygamy is constitutional. "We believe polygamy is against the law, and it should be against the law," de Jong told reporters. But before measures can be taken to prevent it... Read Full Story
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian court will be asked if the country's laws against polygamy violate constitutional protections of religious freedom, British Columbia's attorney general said on Thursday. The law's constitutionality was left in limbo last month after a judge tossed out a criminal case against two members of a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy in the Western Canadian province, Michael de Jong said. "There is a question that needs to be answered... Read Full Story
Attorneys for the executor for the estate of deceased polygamous church leader Rulon Jeffs are asking a judge to remove a communal land trust from state control and return it to the church’s governing body.
In court papers filed Monday in 3rd District Court, attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints contend the properties held by the United Effort Plan Trust belong to the Corporation of the President.
The Utah courts took control of the trust in... Read Full Story
A judge has quashed polygamy charges against two leaders of a polygamous community in western Canada. British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Sunni Stromberg-Stein said Wednesday the province's attorney general did not have the authority to appoint a second special prosecutor to consider the cases of Winston Blackmore and James Oler after the first special prosecutor recommended against charging the two men. Authorities arrested Blackmore and Oler, who lead rival polygamous factions in... Read Full Story
Criminal polygamy charges against two controversial religious leaders were quashed when a Canadian judge ruled the appointment of the case prosecutor was "unlawful." The ruling by the Supreme Court of British Columbia Wednesday effectively threw out one charge of polygamy each against Winston Blackmore and James Oler, rival leaders of a fundamentalist religious community in the westernmost Canadian province. There was no immediate word on whether the provincial government would appeal the... Read Full Story
A hearing on an appeal of the 2007 criminal conviction of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs has been moved to a larger venue to make room for his family and members of his church. Utah State Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer says the Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments at 11 a.m. on Nov. 3 at Salt Lake City's Scott M. Matheson Courthouse. The hearing originally was scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Brigham Young University law school, but the courthouse has more seating. Defense attorneys had... Read Full Story
