Warren Jeffs and the FLDS - Articles - Zimbio

Court Corrects FLDS Raid Travesty

Thu, 23 May 2008 09:29:00 GMT

posted by beckychr007

One evening, back when I was a prosecutor, we were all having a few beers. An eager zealot in our office broke the mood, by asking one of the public defenders how he could defend child molesters. He told her that he slept very well at night, because every day he defended and gave life to the constitution.

The response was right off the top of an Iowa cornstalk—but it also happens to be true.

Without the courts and criminal defense lawyers, getting their clients off on “technicalities”, it would not be long before we were living in a police state.

And the courts have come through again. The Texas Court of Appeals has ruled it will issue a Writ of Mandamus ordering Child Protective Services to release the kids seized from the FLDS compound .

The first clue this was all very wrong was when the newscasts showed pictures of the kids being herded into “First Baptist” Buses—which is apparently an approved religion in Texas.

Then we found out that it all started when a pretend sixteen year old girl called a domestic violence hotline (which specializes in investigating the FLDS) and made up some details on how she was being abused by an old guy, who had not been in Texas for thirty years.

Looking at this most favorably to the police, they were duped.

Regardless, the cops went out to the compound to investigate. They never found the pretend girl, but noticed some pregnant teenage girls—as if that is something quite unusual these days. They then applied for a search warrant with an affidavit based upon that observation, and filled it with a number of speculative conclusions that all the children were being abused.

And so four hundred and forty children were removed from their mothers and placed in state custody. A two day hearing was held, after which Judge Barbara Walther concluded that all the children were in immediate danger, based upon perhaps as much as five minutes of testimony regarding each child.

As it turned out, only five underage teenagers were pregnant. There was no evidence the others were being abused in any way.

One girl actually turned out to be eighteen, but no one had, up until this week, cared what her birth certificate said.

The correct thing to do would have been to investigate the pregnancy of the underage teenagers, and prosecute those responsible—not place all the children in the wonderful care of the state, because some of them might, possibly, maybe, someday be in danger of being sexually molested.

The FLDS is creepy and sick—they abuse children and enslave women. But, what is even worse is a police state that can rip families apart because we do not like their religion or way of life. The only time that extreme measure is justified is when real proof is presented that the children are in imminent danger.

In a free society the issue can not be whether the children are not being raised in the best way, or even a poor way—but whether they are in such extreme danger that the state has no choice but to rip the family apart.

Otherwise, the government will come in if parents are feeding their kids too much sugar, smoking in their presence, homeschooling, spanking, letting them watch too much TV, exposing them to gay people and other unsavory characters, disapproved sex ed instruction, indoctrination in subversive political viewpoints, kooky religions---or whatever the stewards of the public good are concerned about at the time, or is the cause dejur.

The Writ is a victory for all American families--and the constitution.

But just the same, I would like to outlaw those overachieving pompadours, not to mention the prairie dresses that make the ladies look like living Easter Peeps.

Polygamy Boss Charged With New Sex Rap

Wed, 13 Nov 2008 13:52:06 GMT

posted by RobinMeadeBlog

Polygamy sect leader Warren Jeffs and three other members of his group have been indicted on fresh felony charges, the Houston Chronicle reports. Jeffs is accused of aggravated sexual assault linked to actions at the Yearning for Zion Texas compound where authorities rounded up hundreds of children earlier this year. He was convicted of a similar charge in Utah, and faces a possible life sentence. Charges against the others include bigamy and conducting an unlawful marriage involving a minor.

Polygamist leader faces new sex assault charge

Wed, 13 Nov 2008 00:31:18 GMT

posted by grp393
A grand jury has indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on a second sexual assault charge in connection with a probe of his Texas compound, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Polygamy: Sins of the Brethren

Mon, 18 Sep 2007 10:52:00 GMT

posted by beckychr007

As I am sure you have heard, the Prophet Warren Jeffs is currently on trial on various charges including rape, in his Colorado City break off fundamentalist Mormon sect.

Among his alleged crimes, Jeffs arranged “marriages” and sexual relationships with underage girls for other male codgers.

But, leaving out the issue of sexual abuse of minors, which does seem to be prevalent in these plural marriages, I am interested today in the issue of whether polygamy itself should be legal. In this regard I am not interested in the religious issues—I have my personal opinions on that which I will not try to impose on anyone. So I will concentrate on discussing the secular and civil aspects.

I am a libertarian cyberpunk. As such I don’t think there should be seat belt or helmet laws—except as to children. Adults should not be protected from their own stupidity. Maybe it will help weed out the gene pool of these fools. I believe all drugs should either be legalized or decriminalized.

My general rule of thumb is if one person’s freedom does not impinge on another person’s freedom—then let it be. Gay marriage—fine.

However if you want to marry your horse I’ve got a problem. I care about the welfare of animals. I believe animals have to be protected from the irrational or perverse desires of human beings. So no animal marriage. Sorry Enumclaw.

Polygamy is a tough issue for a libertarian. For one thing the practitioners of polygamy rarely make a rational liberty-based argument for their lifestyle choice. Polygamists are pretty much religious crackpots and have little concern for the freedom of women—or stuff the rest of us consider child sexual abuse. Their only real concern is for the right of the man to marry as many women as he wants.

I know the wives may not describe it this way—but polygamy can be seen as a form of enslavement. When a teenage girl told Warren Jeffs she did not want to marry this old fart, the Prophet told her it was her “spiritual duty.” At this point, any sensible woman would have told Jeffs to stick his spiritual duty up his ass. But women involved in these cults from a young age are trained to be submissive and to subordinate their own feelings, wants and needs to their “spiritual duty” as proscribed by these men.

However it is interesting how many of my fellow libertarian and civil rights activists begin their argument with what I call the freedom defense i.e. we should be able to choose whatever lifestyle we wish.

It is basically the same argument used for drug legalization, gay marriage and whatever. These secular apologists almost universally ignore the religious aspects of polygamy. Yet I doubt there is a single case in the United States of a non-religious plural family. I would be willing to wager money that every single polygamous relationship in the US is not secular—but religious based.

But the libertarian argument is so long as no child abuse then we should mind our own business. I think the argument is flawed because of the “no harm” caveat. That is my rule for deciding whether personal freedom trumps the law. And that is pretty much a basic libertarian premise. So does polygamy hurt individuals?

Ok-- plural marriages were allowed back in ancient Biblical times. But the only society I am aware of where it is still practiced is Islam. I have some information on polygamy in those societies and I am not going to get into it here. Suffice it to say if one brings up Islam in the context of male and female relationships with me—you are already losing your argument.

One of my concerns is while there is some talk of polygamy in the Old Testament— few of them had a plan for retirement or managed health care. Imagine the economic strain on a family of one husband, ten wives and thirty children. These children are also a burden on society—because you can be sure the parents aren’t going to pay for their education or health care. Unless all ten of those wives are professionals—doctors, lawyers and such—we are going to pick up the tab.

On Anderson Cooper I saw a clip about a polygamist family—one husband and five wives—and a hoard of children so large they could have started their own Mega-Church. What struck me was how poor these people were. They lived in a private trailer park out in the desert somewhere. The children were all home schooled and home churched. It all seemed very inbred and unhealthy to say the least.

So I think there is an economic problem—but putting that aside---is it true that a polygamist who marries ten consenting women harms no one? The thing is “consent” does not always absolve a person of harming someone else.

A while back I read about a cannibal in Germany who murdered and ate another man with that man’s consent. The two of them even feasted together on the victim’s penis before the cannibal finished him off and cooked him up for dinner. Though there was consent the cannibal was still found guilty of murder and desecration of a corpse. I don’t think I am the only one who thinks this was a correct decision.

Albeit that is an extreme case—but it illustrates that consent does not always absolve the guilt of the perpetrator. In statutory rape cases consent means nothing. That is how it should be.
Polygamous marriage denies a woman and her children of the full benefit of marriage with one man. She does not have the complete access to economic resources that a married couple should share—nor does she have access to her husband’s undivided love and attention.

Additionally, the potential for discord and unhappiness among husbands, wives and children is greatly increased. Monogamy is difficult—how much more difficult a plural arrangement must be. For men it seems it would be an impossible situation. How could such a marriage be beneficial to anyone?

To address briefly the harm done to men. I think the harm is the husband in these marriages has put himself in a position of authority over several women and a brood of children for whom he is not qualified to be responsible. To use Christian terminology—this will inevitably lead him to sin.

To be specific—what man is so morally, physically and intellectually superior that he can manage such a household without resort to coercion and force to maintain the semblance of peace?

Ultimately these relationships between husband, wives and children devolve into a kind of incestuous tribal barbarianism precisely because an ordinary man is not meant to establish himself in such a position of authority over his family. Monogamy keeps the male ego in check. Polygamy and the religion which supports it establishes the husband as some kind of kingly ruler whose whims carry the weight of law.

In sum—just because I am a libertarian and support gay marriage I don’t think I have to tolerate polygamy. The harm caused trumps any argument for freedom of the individual. Viewed from an ethical and rational standpoint polygamy by its nature degrades the family unit economically and morally. The means used is the subjugation of women.

The primary function of the practice is the production of children to feed the never-ending need for mass quantities of more subjugated women—or as is so often the case-- underage girls.

Polygamists Profiled on CBS4

Sun, 10 Nov 2008 18:38:45 GMT

posted by interpolfan33
The Polygamist cult headed by disgraced and jailed leader Warren Jeffs is putting down serious roots here in Colorado. CBS4's Rick Sallinger begins a series of reports tonight at 10 through Wednesday. He's a friend and great reporter. The cult has been buying up millions of dollars in prop...