I'll post my opinion on it later. I have a lot of work to do, but I wanted to get it out there.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Thanks for the update, Little_Doctor. I've been following the general story.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I'm confused. If the police know all of these laws are being broken, why haven't they shut down these compounds?
They say they can't find witnesses; but all of the young men being driven out have to have a ship on their shoulder. And I get the impression that juries in those regions would be eager to convict polygamists.
Am I missing something important? This is the first I've heard about this, that article the first I've read, so I very well might be.
Posted by sarahdipity (Member # 3254) on :
They fear a waco like standoff for one. This is one of the reasons this arrest is such a big deal apparently. They didn't think they would get him so..easily.
There are probably other reasons as well. I'm not sure that they can just displace everyone living in such a compound. Many of them might not be breaking any laws.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Another reason why the authorities of both Arizona and Utah have been hesitant to step in and deal with the abuses in FLDS communities on the Arizona/Utah border is that there was such a raid (or series of raids) there in the 1950s, and the government came out of it with few to no convictions and looking like the villains in the press.
I don't think that's a good reason...much of what is going on there, if the reports are correct, is not only illegal but morally reprehensible. But it is nevertheless, politically, a reason that has been used for the lack of enforcement of anti-polygamy, welfare fraud, and child endangerment (in reference of the marriage of underage-girls to much older men) laws among the FLDS.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Jeffs was caught unintentionally. Highway patrol man pulled over the car he was in with his brother and one of his wives. I guess the policeman recognized him or ran a check on the plates.
I would be interested to see what the media reaction would be if Warren Jeffs had been performing Gay marriages around the country and was on the run for that reason.
Though I will say here Jeffs deserves to go to jail, he performed alot of marriages between older men and underage girls. There is no excuse (in my opinion) to what he did. He is not a moral crusader anymore than a man who carefully convinces a 12 year old to have sex with him, and does not do so until the 12 year old says its ok.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I would be interested to see what the media reaction would be if Warren Jeffs had been performing Gay marriages around the country and was on the run for that reason.
???
*not following the sequitur
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Edited to add: Why would the FBI be chasing down someone who performed gay marriages? (That is to say, I think a good deal of the hoopla is because WSJ has been on the FBI's most-wanted list for some time, as opposed to, say, a United Methodist minister being sought by the local polics (?) for having performed a gay marriage.)