K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
Prosecuting Polygamy
By Marci Hamilton, Huffington Post
Posted on April 16, 2008, Printed on April 16, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/81772/
There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchal
religious organization, and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints,
whose compound in El Dorado, Texas, is now under control of the Texas
authorities, is one of the scariest examples. It took the
extraordinary bravery of a 16-year-old girl to set in motion a chain
of events that should have happened long ago.
She reported that she had been "married" to a 50-year-old man, forced
to have sex, get pregnant, and have a baby. Because of her, Texas
authorities have taken hundreds of children and women to safety. From
all reports, they have yet to find her.
I give the Texas law enforcement and child protective agency officials
a great deal of credit for moving in on the compound. They bucked the
three trends in our culture that have kept these children at risk for
far too long.
First, authorities in general are too fearful of intervening in
religious enclaves, even when the harm is so awful and apparent. Yet,
there is no right of religious liberty to engage in child and spousal
abuse, or polygamy for that matter. The taboo against holding
religious entities accountable is simply foolhardy.
In fact, enforcement of the polygamy laws could have stemmed many of
these abuses. Yet, it is the rare prosecutor who will prosecute on the
basis of the polygamy laws, despite the fact those laws are utterly
clear and repeatedly have been upheld against constitutional attack.
The largest enclave of FLDS resides in Bountiful, British Columbia. A
misguided Canadian public official announced just yesterday that the
government cannot go forward with a prosecution of polygamy against
the FLDS (where the accounts of abuse are legendary), because of
concerns about religious liberty. If Canadian law, though, protects
polygamy, it also protects the child and spousal abuse that inevitably
follow. That is not religious liberty, but rather religious
licentiousness. American prosecutors have been marginally better,
though there are many more cases out there that they ignore on daily
basis.
If authorities (in TX, AZ, NV, and UT) had vigorously enforced the
laws against polygamy, we would not have dangerous cults like the FLDS
that are premised on extreme obedience of women and girls to
domineering men and the disposal of teenage boys. Instead of
preventing systemic abuse and neglect, authorities have been timid in
the face of specious claims of religious liberty. It cannot be said
often enough: no public official should tread lightly in the face of
child abuse even if those perpetrating the abuse don the cloak of
religion.
The sheer amount of statutory rape in the FLDS culture (along with
physical abuse and neglect) is staggering, but it took the FBI years
to put their prophet, Warren Jeffs, on the Ten Most Wanted List and
then to apprehend him for taking underage girls across state lines to
be married to older men. He was convicted in Utah for his involvement
in the "marriage" of a 14-year-old girl to a 19-year-old boy and will
face further state and federal charges in separate proceedings. His
conviction alone should have put all authorities in the jurisdictions
where the sect resides on the alert to rescue the women and children.
(The boys do not fare well, either, as many are abandoned in
adolescence in order to keep the ratio of men to girls favorable for
the men.)
Second, Hollywood has romanticized polygamy. Thanks to actress Rita
Wilson, Tom Hanks's wife, the fundamentalist Mormons' practice of
polygamy has been glamorized in the nauseating HBO series, Big Love.
When the members of Tapestry, a group of formerly polygamous wives
fully (and sadly) educated on how the FLDS operates, objected to the
show before it even appeared, she ignored their entreaties.
Big Love is business, obviously, but it's business that profits from
the abuse of women and children. Hollywood pays tremendous attention
to suffering children in Africa, but which ones have stood up for the
American child victims of sex abuse at the hands of polygamist
Mormons? It is a sad fact that American children who are victims of
child sex abuse in all categories (clergy abuse, incest, teacher
abuse, etc.) receive far less attention and support than foreign
children. Do you know why children's issues are so difficult to get
through state and federal legislatures? Children's advocates will tell
you: "Children don't vote." It's also because too many wealthy adults
don't give to suffering American children.
Third, as a culture, we are slow to react to evidence of child sex
abuse. We worry about tarring the reputation of adults far more than
we do about early intervention when a child is in trouble. It takes a
whole culture for children to be sexually and physically abused --
adults to do it and others to take no action when they suspect what is
happening. The worst thing that could happen in the El Dorado
situation is that the apparent stonewalling by a number of the adults
convinces authorities to restore these children to the cult. Adult
members who will not talk truthfully to authorities should be
prosecuted for obstruction of justice. Every humanly possible effort
needs to be made to protect the children from further abuse.
The question that should be on everyone's mind at this point is where
is the girl who tipped off authorities? I am afraid to know the
answer, to be perfectly honest.
That leaves the question of justice for all of the other children in
the cult.
Because of the insular nature of the FLDS and the general culture's
failure to intervene earlier, it will likely take decades for FLDS
victims to find the ability to come forward and demand justice from
their perpetrators. They deserve whatever time they need to heal and
to find that justice and, therefore, offer yet another reason to
eliminate the statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse.
Marci Hamilton is the author of 'God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the
Rule of Law' (Cambridge University Press) and the forthcoming Justice
Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge
2008).
By Marci Hamilton, Huffington Post
Posted on April 16, 2008, Printed on April 16, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/81772/
There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchal
religious organization, and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints,
whose compound in El Dorado, Texas, is now under control of the Texas
authorities, is one of the scariest examples. It took the
extraordinary bravery of a 16-year-old girl to set in motion a chain
of events that should have happened long ago.
She reported that she had been "married" to a 50-year-old man, forced
to have sex, get pregnant, and have a baby. Because of her, Texas
authorities have taken hundreds of children and women to safety. From
all reports, they have yet to find her.
I give the Texas law enforcement and child protective agency officials
a great deal of credit for moving in on the compound. They bucked the
three trends in our culture that have kept these children at risk for
far too long.
First, authorities in general are too fearful of intervening in
religious enclaves, even when the harm is so awful and apparent. Yet,
there is no right of religious liberty to engage in child and spousal
abuse, or polygamy for that matter. The taboo against holding
religious entities accountable is simply foolhardy.
In fact, enforcement of the polygamy laws could have stemmed many of
these abuses. Yet, it is the rare prosecutor who will prosecute on the
basis of the polygamy laws, despite the fact those laws are utterly
clear and repeatedly have been upheld against constitutional attack.
The largest enclave of FLDS resides in Bountiful, British Columbia. A
misguided Canadian public official announced just yesterday that the
government cannot go forward with a prosecution of polygamy against
the FLDS (where the accounts of abuse are legendary), because of
concerns about religious liberty. If Canadian law, though, protects
polygamy, it also protects the child and spousal abuse that inevitably
follow. That is not religious liberty, but rather religious
licentiousness. American prosecutors have been marginally better,
though there are many more cases out there that they ignore on daily
basis.
If authorities (in TX, AZ, NV, and UT) had vigorously enforced the
laws against polygamy, we would not have dangerous cults like the FLDS
that are premised on extreme obedience of women and girls to
domineering men and the disposal of teenage boys. Instead of
preventing systemic abuse and neglect, authorities have been timid in
the face of specious claims of religious liberty. It cannot be said
often enough: no public official should tread lightly in the face of
child abuse even if those perpetrating the abuse don the cloak of
religion.
The sheer amount of statutory rape in the FLDS culture (along with
physical abuse and neglect) is staggering, but it took the FBI years
to put their prophet, Warren Jeffs, on the Ten Most Wanted List and
then to apprehend him for taking underage girls across state lines to
be married to older men. He was convicted in Utah for his involvement
in the "marriage" of a 14-year-old girl to a 19-year-old boy and will
face further state and federal charges in separate proceedings. His
conviction alone should have put all authorities in the jurisdictions
where the sect resides on the alert to rescue the women and children.
(The boys do not fare well, either, as many are abandoned in
adolescence in order to keep the ratio of men to girls favorable for
the men.)
Second, Hollywood has romanticized polygamy. Thanks to actress Rita
Wilson, Tom Hanks's wife, the fundamentalist Mormons' practice of
polygamy has been glamorized in the nauseating HBO series, Big Love.
When the members of Tapestry, a group of formerly polygamous wives
fully (and sadly) educated on how the FLDS operates, objected to the
show before it even appeared, she ignored their entreaties.
Big Love is business, obviously, but it's business that profits from
the abuse of women and children. Hollywood pays tremendous attention
to suffering children in Africa, but which ones have stood up for the
American child victims of sex abuse at the hands of polygamist
Mormons? It is a sad fact that American children who are victims of
child sex abuse in all categories (clergy abuse, incest, teacher
abuse, etc.) receive far less attention and support than foreign
children. Do you know why children's issues are so difficult to get
through state and federal legislatures? Children's advocates will tell
you: "Children don't vote." It's also because too many wealthy adults
don't give to suffering American children.
Third, as a culture, we are slow to react to evidence of child sex
abuse. We worry about tarring the reputation of adults far more than
we do about early intervention when a child is in trouble. It takes a
whole culture for children to be sexually and physically abused --
adults to do it and others to take no action when they suspect what is
happening. The worst thing that could happen in the El Dorado
situation is that the apparent stonewalling by a number of the adults
convinces authorities to restore these children to the cult. Adult
members who will not talk truthfully to authorities should be
prosecuted for obstruction of justice. Every humanly possible effort
needs to be made to protect the children from further abuse.
The question that should be on everyone's mind at this point is where
is the girl who tipped off authorities? I am afraid to know the
answer, to be perfectly honest.
That leaves the question of justice for all of the other children in
the cult.
Because of the insular nature of the FLDS and the general culture's
failure to intervene earlier, it will likely take decades for FLDS
victims to find the ability to come forward and demand justice from
their perpetrators. They deserve whatever time they need to heal and
to find that justice and, therefore, offer yet another reason to
eliminate the statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse.
Marci Hamilton is the author of 'God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the
Rule of Law' (Cambridge University Press) and the forthcoming Justice
Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge
2008).
