Prosecuting Polygamy in El Dorado

There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchical 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, 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.., 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.

Comments

[Thaigold]

Don't forget - a billion Muslims adhere to the concept of multiple wives - many times at least 13-years old.

Is this abuse, or a cultural / religious norm?

Americans are not privy to the truth. They may be able to enforce their silly laws in Texas, but not within the other 95% of the world's population.

Stay tuned.

[weepingwabbits]

It stands to reason,perpetrators of child abuse should be more heavily prosecuted.That said,I wonder of the existence of the girl,and till more info is available,to trust much of what is presented in the media.
I have observed the media has uniformly referred to the cult as 'the polygamists',rather then to refer to them as Mormans.
Better for Mr.Romney.

[montestruc]

"There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchical religious organization,"

Oh I don't know, what few children survived any of the camps erected by secular totalitarian governments in the 20th century might well dispute that.

What truly bothers me is that you, a professor of law is asserting:

"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."

Also they have yet to prove she exists at all, , , or that it was not you on the other end of the phone line for that matter. The US Constitution, which you are claimed to be an expert on, does have a fourth amendment.

Pardon me Professor -- on what sane basis is a telephoned in accusation by a person whom law enforcement cannot identify and who cannot be found and none of who's claims can be proven, is "probable cause" for search warrant searching a many thousand acre ranch and all the buildings on it, and the seizure of custody of 400+ children from their parents? Or is it that you hold that your particular hobby horse is more important that the rights of all?

All I can see is a religious bigot (you) who wants to feel self-righteous and important at the expense of a despised religious minority.

I am not a polygamist. I just have a problem with attacks on minorities by lynch mobs and bigots.

[doramittelbau]

""There is nothing so dangerous for a child as an insular, patriarchal religious organization..."

Although I completely agree with this, I find it an odd statement coming from a person who teaches at Yeshiva University (of which Benjamin Cardozo Law School is a part).

[JohnFromCensornati]

"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."

I would change that statement to:
It cannot be said often enough: no public official should tread lightly in the face of child abuse *especially* if those perpetrating the abuse don the cloak of religion.

The religious among us can cook up any kind of shit they please and call it "religious". It's way past time that we stop giving the benefit of the doubt to these people.

[mommadona]

Let's focus on the REAL enemies and creeps in this scenario...

White males steeped in patrichial fundamentalism cloaked as a religion.

And local/stat­e/regional law enforcement is ALSO white male.

"Don't ask, don't tell"...as the local law enforcement person in an interview with a tv reporter stated:

"Shoot - they didn't bother the local community here at all."

Like I said.

Male.
White.
"Don't ask, don't tell"
"Not OUR problem"
"Doesn't bother us"
"Could be worse"
"Seem like nice sorts"

[ibivi]

Why is this still being allowed in the US? Didn't the mormons of utah pledge that they would not practice polygamy?
What about the authorities in Texas? Here's a huge compound of sect mormons who practice this form of child abuse and they do nothing until they get a call from a victim? Freedom of religion is one thing but this is totally unacceptable.

[dwatkins9]

Obviously no one condones child abuse, but I don't see why we can't have polygamy as long as it is between "consenting adults," as they say.

If we can have gay marriage, why not polygamy? It seems to me that the arguments in favor of gay marriage apply with at least equal strength to polygamy. Marriage is all about romantic love between consenting adults, yes? Let everyone love as they see fit, without bounds. I'm all for it, myself.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Actually, marriage involves the benefits/r­esponsibil­ities accorded by the state.
Polygamy involves more than two people and gay marriage does not.
Why not have enough "wives" to deduct 1,000 dependents?
I don't think so.
They can have as many "wives" as they please.
Why should the state sanction more than one?
If women are stupid enough to marry a married man, well they're stupid.
Underaged girls should not have to deal with this insanity.

[Liberal2]

I can't tell if you're too stupid to grasp the situation being described or just intentionally dense. This story is about 15 year old girls being forced to be the sexual toys of elderly men. These men are so twisted they are swapping their own female children between them, there are no 15 year old girls knocking on the front door asking to join their cult/sexclub.

[katerinag]

These are NOT Mormons. As a journalist Marci Hamilton should get her facts straight. Mormons do NOT practice polygamy. Any Mormon who practices polygamy and the church finds out, that individual is excommunicated from the church. We have nearly 13,000,000 ( thirteen million) members of the church worldwide. ALL these people would not be joining a church that is a polygamist church. Get the facts straight and do your due diligence before reporting false news. The commenter is not at fault here since Marci is the one that stated right in her article that these are Mormons when in fact they are not.

[katerinag]

Please read my comment below. These are NOT Mormons. I am sorry that Marci led you to believe such a lie. Moromism is a mainstream religion now with over 13 million members. It is illegal to practice polygamy and the Mormon church teaches its members to be law abiding citizens. Utah has Mormons and non Mormons living there. Polygamists are excommunicated from the church.